This forum is EXTREMELY slow

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103

Hello,

We changed some settings with DNS and some other stuff with the Forum engine itself to keep it more performatic. We ask now to wait up to 24 hours, than clear DNS cache and try to see if the problem is gone.

Note: This is happening only with few users, we did some tests and depending on the ISP it gets slow (the very first access only) than it becomes fast.

Letā€™s wait a bit more, and we hope the issue has gone. The DNS change was done today 30-11 at 2PM CET.

3 Likes
104

Hello All,

After some settings changed, we noticed that for some users the slowness in the very first access has gone. I kindly ask you all to test it now again to see if the issue has been solved on your end also.

As this problem happens only with few users, it should be something on your end.

Ok, If not solved yet, I would recommend to check and change the MTU size on your router based in the test we will guide you to check the ideal MTU size in your case and prevent data fragmentation:

If you use Linux, the way to do that is using the ping command:

Start with this one:
ping -M do -s 1492 help.nextcloud.com

Check the output, if it says that youā€™re having fragmented data, slow down the number (1492) in 10/10 for example, next ping should be 1482, like this:

ping -M do -s 1482 help.nextcloud.com

Do it until you can complete the ping, most of cases the number should reach 1462 (or near) to you be able to ping the address succesfully without data fragmentation.

Reaching the exactly number, add +28 on it, for example, if the number that pings the address was 1462, add +28 and youā€™ll have 1490. That should be the MTU size youā€™ll need to adjust on your Internet Router (each one has different places to find this info, search on the web where to find yours if itā€™s a bit hidden from you).

Change the MTU number to one you find, restart your router and test again.

PS: If youā€™re using Windows, the ping command should be something like:

ping help.nextcloud.com -f -l 1492

And slows down from this value till find the one completes your ping request.

Donā€™t forget to add +28 in the end to setup correctly the MTU size on your router.

ā€“

Itā€™ll solve not only the access to our help.nextcloud.com forum, but in all other sites having the same issue over the internet.

Let me know the results and your thoughts on that,

Kind Regards,

4 Likes
105

Thanks for the MTU tip! This is super fascinating.

I just tried the tests Iā€™ve been doing, again. Forum performance is pretty much the same as Iā€™ve described in earlier messages above (and in other threads). That is: (1) sometimes it wonā€™t load even after waiting for several minutes and (2), slow transfer speeds (~10kbps), reproducible with, for example:

curl --compressed -o /dev/null https://help.nextcloud.com/assets/discourse-90317d3fc0cd0d71125e07cdb6bf5b38f87dcbdf5e380a1e5e4734435256feb9.js

Clearing all cookies and site data fixes problem (1), and using mobile data instead of my home network fixes problem (2).

Can you say a bit more about your understanding of the problem and how MTU might be the root cause? I asked a couple networking experts and they were very skeptical that tweaking MTU values would help.

Iā€™ve never changed any MTU settings and I canā€™t think of any other websites where I see slow transfer speeds like I do with help.nextcloud.com, so Iā€™m both skeptical and excited to learn from this.

I found a setting for MSS clamping in my router config. I canā€™t find a place to change MTU. I have a unifi udm pro. Is MSS clamping the same as setting MTU size?

This site tells me I have MTU=1492, MSS=1452, RWIN=64256:

https://www.speedguide.net/analyzer.php

Also: what were the DNS changes exactly? I donā€™t recall having any DNS problems on my end, for what itā€™s worth.

Also: my home ISP connection uses PPPoE. Not sure if that makes a difference.

107

Still seeing a very slow load on first access after clearing site data, and unending loading after a few close and restarts of the browser. Can the site admins please check that the css is all sourced via the same CDN as the rest of the site?

I reduced the MTU on my router down to 1492 (it was at 1500), and I get the same results, nearly 2 minutes to load the front page for the first time:
73 requests
1.87 MB / 846.43 kB transferred
Finish: 2.05 min

Reloading the page is much faster, without the minute and a half spent watching the coloured balls:
50 requests
350.03 kB / 10.41 kB transferred
Finish: 32.79 s

I wasnā€™t seeing fragmented packets in the testing anyway, so that likely wasnā€™t the issue.

108

hopefully this is sorted now: