Slow Forum

thinkxingu · 06-06-2025, 12:01 PM

Hi!
Is anyone else experiencing a slow forum these last couple weeks? I use Tapatalk on my phone, which is sometimes slow, but I tried the forum on my computer today, and it was equally slow.

Thanks!

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

Susie Cougar · 06-06-2025, 12:49 PM

Yes. I have been having the same problem and it is very annoying.

TCC · 06-06-2025, 01:45 PM

Yes. Very much so!!! Everything else is running normally so it must be a problem with the host site.

bobkatfly · 06-06-2025, 01:47 PM

Same using the website but just noticed it yesterday.

tis · 06-06-2025, 03:11 PM

Yes, something is wrong. Takes forever to open and then forever to open a thread.

TomC · 06-06-2025, 03:30 PM

yep. i've gotten the "connection timed out/too slow to respond" message a couple of times too. glad its not just me!

garysanfran · 06-06-2025, 04:31 PM

It took me so long to try and post this post, I decided to not do it.

Slickcraft · 06-06-2025, 07:59 PM

It takes $$ to run this forum. The "donate" tab is in the top banner. Just a suggestion.

Alan

Oh, that does not work either.

BroadHopper · 06-07-2025, 06:42 AM

Since the last Win 11 upgrade, I have been getting certificate errors when loading the website. I don't have that problem on Ubuntu.

upthesaukee · 06-07-2025, 01:59 PM

Thanks Webmaster. Now back to normal.

Dave

thinkxingu · 06-07-2025, 05:41 PM

It appears to be normal now, yes.

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

tummyman · 06-08-2025, 07:40 AM

Still seems very slow........

TomC · 06-08-2025, 09:48 AM

agree - its very slow as opposed to before it was glacially slow and unusable...

Senter Cove Guy · 06-08-2025, 03:36 PM

Wow. Glad winnipesakee.com is back. From my recent perspective, it wasn't slow, it was just GONE.

GLAD IT'S BACK!

webmaster · 06-08-2025, 04:05 PM

It should work a lot better now.

The problem has actually been growing for months and was caused by the huge amount of bots that were hitting the site. Bots have always been busy indexing the site for the search engines but recently they have become a much bigger problem for forums and other comment boards. This site runs on a modest server and just couldn't handle the volume. The bots couldn't post since they had to be registered but they could still repeatedly access posts and threads and try to register. At times there were 20,000 visitors or more showing on the site when less than a hundred were actual people. In recent weeks this finally maxed out the server.

I recently had to stop accepting new registrations with Gmail addresses. The bots were almost all using gmail addresses when registering. I screen new memberships and sometimes there would be hundreds of new registrations with gmail addresses waiting for review. I hope that will now slow down so I can resume taking Gmail registrations.

All the site traffic is now being routed through a service which detects and blocks most malicious bots. The overall bot traffic is now down about 75%. It's making a big difference right now but time will tell.

Sorry the site was so slow.

Don

thinkxingu · 06-08-2025, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by webmaster

It should work a lot better now.

The problem has actually been growing for months and was caused by the huge amount of bots that were hitting the site. Bots have always been busy indexing the site for the search engines but recently they have become a much bigger problem for forums and other comment boards. This site runs on a modest server and just couldn't handle the volume. The bots couldn't post since they had to be registered but they could still repeatedly access posts and threads and try to register. At times there were 20,000 visitors or more showing on the site when less than a hundred were actual people. In recent weeks this finally maxed out the server.

I recently had to stop accepting new registrations with Gmail addresses. The bots were almost all using gmail addresses when registering. I screen new memberships and sometimes there would be hundreds of new registrations with gmail addresses waiting for review. I hope that will now slow down so I can resume taking Gmail registrations.

All the site traffic is now being routed through a service which detects and blocks most malicious bots. The overall bot traffic is now down about 75%. It's making a big difference right now but time will tell.

Sorry the site was so slow.

Don

No worries, Don, and thanks for the explanation—everything seems good right now.

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

tis · 06-08-2025, 06:28 PM

No apologies needed. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for you. Running a couple of FB groups is hard enough trying to keep the bots out. Too bad there wasn't a way they could be detected. It's gotten so we don't trust much on the net any more.

FlyingScot · 06-08-2025, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by webmaster

It should work a lot better now.

The problem has actually been growing for months and was caused by the huge amount of bots that were hitting the site. Bots have always been busy indexing the site for the search engines but recently they have become a much bigger problem for forums and other comment boards. This site runs on a modest server and just couldn't handle the volume. The bots couldn't post since they had to be registered but they could still repeatedly access posts and threads and try to register. At times there were 20,000 visitors or more showing on the site when less than a hundred were actual people. In recent weeks this finally maxed out the server.

I recently had to stop accepting new registrations with Gmail addresses. The bots were almost all using gmail addresses when registering. I screen new memberships and sometimes there would be hundreds of new registrations with gmail addresses waiting for review. I hope that will now slow down so I can resume taking Gmail registrations.

All the site traffic is now being routed through a service which detects and blocks most malicious bots. The overall bot traffic is now down about 75%. It's making a big difference right now but time will tell.

Sorry the site was so slow.

Don

Hmmm...I wonder if that's AI?

ishoot308 · 06-09-2025, 07:27 AM

Site seems to be slowing down again. It’s was fine for a couple days but definitely noticed today that it is slowing down again…

Dan

ishoot308 · 06-09-2025, 08:54 AM

Now it seems OK!

Dan

TomC · 07-01-2025, 04:09 AM

Took over two minutes to load the forum, subforum, and then this thread in order to post this message. Time for the bot-purge again or whatever was done last time...

thinkxingu · 07-01-2025, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TomC

Took over two minutes to load the forum, subforum, and then this thread in order to post this message. Time for the bot-purge again or whatever was done last time...

Was fast just now (5:40 AM, while my fam sleeps!), but I'm guessing these attacks come and go.

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

tis · 07-01-2025, 07:29 AM

Mine was very slow too but just now opened up as it should.

upthesaukee · 07-01-2025, 08:50 AM

Not a big deal... Just take a sip or two of iced tea, or another cup of coffee, or ....

Life's too short to worry about the small stuff.

Dave

Descant · 07-01-2025, 11:27 AM

At about 8:30 this am Chrome gave me a message that "Site not available" "Too long a time to load." Just logged in at 11:20 am, all OK.

tis · 07-01-2025, 11:48 AM

Bad, then good, then bad, then good for me too.

DickR · 07-01-2025, 04:08 PM

Just now (4pm Tuesday), after a couple more weeks of failure due to timing out, suddenly we have Winni forum again! This time I got a screen (quickly, and going away quickly on its own), saying it was checking to see if I were a real person (albeit with gradually fading intelligence), rather than an AI-based intruder. I suspect webmaster will be along to say something to address this site-theft has been installed. Perhaps he shouldn't say just was installed (if so), and not help the attackers figure out how to hack that tool.

06-06-2025, 12:01 PM	#1
thinkxingu Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 6,383 Thanks: 1,179 Thanked 2,122 Times in 1,313 Posts	Slow Forum Hi! Is anyone else experiencing a slow forum these last couple weeks? I use Tapatalk on my phone, which is sometimes slow, but I tried the forum on my computer today, and it was equally slow. Thanks! Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

06-06-2025, 01:47 PM	#4
bobkatfly Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Center Tuftonboro Posts: 383 Thanks: 58 Thanked 55 Times in 49 Posts	Same using the website but just noticed it yesterday. __________________ Bob F Amherst till the big 66 comes (made it!) Winter Harbor/Mirror Lake till the big guy comes

06-06-2025, 04:31 PM	#7
garysanfran Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: San Francisco/Meredith Posts: 1,581 Thanks: 680 Thanked 684 Times in 350 Posts	It took me so long to try and post this post, I decided to not do it. __________________ Gary ~~~~_/) ~~~ ~~~~~~~~

06-07-2025, 06:42 AM	#9
BroadHopper Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Laconia NH Posts: 5,601 Thanks: 3,237 Thanked 1,113 Times in 799 Posts	certificate error Since the last Win 11 upgrade, I have been getting certificate errors when loading the website. I don't have that problem on Ubuntu. __________________ Someday may never be an actual day.

06-07-2025, 01:59 PM	#10
upthesaukee Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Alton Bay Posts: 5,607 Blog Entries: 2 Thanks: 2,477 Thanked 1,984 Times in 1,084 Posts	Thank you Webmaster Thanks Webmaster. Now back to normal. Dave __________________ I Live Here... I am always UPTHESAUKEE !!!!

The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to thinkxingu For This Useful Post:
BroadHopper (06-07-2025), FlyingScot (06-06-2025), TCC (06-06-2025), tummyman (06-06-2025), upthesaukee (06-06-2025)

06-06-2025, 12:49 PM	#2
Susie Cougar Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Parrish, Florida Posts: 619 Thanks: 295 Thanked 225 Times in 160 Posts	Yes. I have been having the same problem and it is very annoying.

06-06-2025, 01:45 PM	#3
TCC Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Wolfeboro Posts: 156 Thanks: 261 Thanked 77 Times in 31 Posts	Yes. Very much so!!! Everything else is running normally so it must be a problem with the host site.

06-06-2025, 03:11 PM	#5
tis Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 6,810 Thanks: 759 Thanked 1,469 Times in 1,025 Posts	Yes, something is wrong. Takes forever to open and then forever to open a thread.

06-06-2025, 03:30 PM	#6
TomC Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Lakes Region Posts: 722 Thanks: 25 Thanked 117 Times in 76 Posts	yep. i've gotten the "connection timed out/too slow to respond" message a couple of times too. glad its not just me!

The Following User Says Thank You to TomC For This Useful Post:
ApS (06-15-2025)

06-06-2025, 07:59 PM	#8
Slickcraft Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Welch Island and The Taylor Community Posts: 3,329 Thanks: 1,240 Thanked 2,118 Times in 968 Posts	It takes $$ to run this forum. The "donate" tab is in the top banner. Just a suggestion. Alan Oh, that does not work either.

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to upthesaukee For This Useful Post:
BroadHopper (06-08-2025), Slickcraft (06-07-2025)

06-07-2025, 05:41 PM	#11
thinkxingu Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 6,383 Thanks: 1,179 Thanked 2,122 Times in 1,313 Posts	It appears to be normal now, yes. Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

06-08-2025, 07:40 AM	#12
tummyman Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Moultonborough Posts: 844 Thanks: 261 Thanked 688 Times in 245 Posts	Still seems very slow........

06-08-2025, 09:48 AM	#13
TomC Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Lakes Region Posts: 722 Thanks: 25 Thanked 117 Times in 76 Posts	agree - its very slow as opposed to before it was glacially slow and unusable...

06-08-2025, 03:36 PM	#14
Senter Cove Guy Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 604 Thanks: 300 Thanked 431 Times in 142 Posts	It's Back, Yay Wow. Glad winnipesakee.com is back. From my recent perspective, it wasn't slow, it was just GONE. GLAD IT'S BACK! __________________ Lake Winni - The only place I want to be during the summer.

The Following User Says Thank You to Senter Cove Guy For This Useful Post:
webmaster (06-08-2025)

06-08-2025, 04:05 PM	#15
webmaster Moderator Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 2,470 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 461 Thanked 3,964 Times in 849 Posts	It should work a lot better now. The problem has actually been growing for months and was caused by the huge amount of bots that were hitting the site. Bots have always been busy indexing the site for the search engines but recently they have become a much bigger problem for forums and other comment boards. This site runs on a modest server and just couldn't handle the volume. The bots couldn't post since they had to be registered but they could still repeatedly access posts and threads and try to register. At times there were 20,000 visitors or more showing on the site when less than a hundred were actual people. In recent weeks this finally maxed out the server. I recently had to stop accepting new registrations with Gmail addresses. The bots were almost all using gmail addresses when registering. I screen new memberships and sometimes there would be hundreds of new registrations with gmail addresses waiting for review. I hope that will now slow down so I can resume taking Gmail registrations. All the site traffic is now being routed through a service which detects and blocks most malicious bots. The overall bot traffic is now down about 75%. It's making a big difference right now but time will tell. Sorry the site was so slow. Don

The Following 11 Users Say Thank You to webmaster For This Useful Post:
BroadHopper (06-09-2025), Descant (06-08-2025), ishoot308 (06-08-2025), jeffk (06-10-2025), KennyFromBoston (06-09-2025), Loub52 (06-09-2025), Senter Cove Guy (06-08-2025), Slickcraft (06-08-2025), Susie Cougar (06-08-2025), TCC (06-08-2025), tummyman (06-08-2025)

06-08-2025, 06:28 PM	#17
tis Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 6,810 Thanks: 759 Thanked 1,469 Times in 1,025 Posts	No apologies needed. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for you. Running a couple of FB groups is hard enough trying to keep the bots out. Too bad there wasn't a way they could be detected. It's gotten so we don't trust much on the net any more.

06-09-2025, 07:27 AM	#19
ishoot308 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Gilford, NH / Welch Island Posts: 6,341 Thanks: 2,412 Thanked 5,336 Times in 2,085 Posts	Slow Again Site seems to be slowing down again. It’s was fine for a couple days but definitely noticed today that it is slowing down again… Dan __________________ It's Always Sunny On Welch Island!!

06-09-2025, 08:54 AM	#20
ishoot308 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Gilford, NH / Welch Island Posts: 6,341 Thanks: 2,412 Thanked 5,336 Times in 2,085 Posts	OK Now Now it seems OK! Dan __________________ It's Always Sunny On Welch Island!!

07-01-2025, 04:09 AM	#21
TomC Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Lakes Region Posts: 722 Thanks: 25 Thanked 117 Times in 76 Posts	slow again... Took over two minutes to load the forum, subforum, and then this thread in order to post this message. Time for the bot-purge again or whatever was done last time...

07-01-2025, 07:29 AM	#23
tis Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 6,810 Thanks: 759 Thanked 1,469 Times in 1,025 Posts	Mine was very slow too but just now opened up as it should.

07-01-2025, 08:50 AM	#24
upthesaukee Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Alton Bay Posts: 5,607 Blog Entries: 2 Thanks: 2,477 Thanked 1,984 Times in 1,084 Posts	Not a big deal... Not a big deal... Just take a sip or two of iced tea, or another cup of coffee, or .... Life's too short to worry about the small stuff. Dave __________________ I Live Here... I am always UPTHESAUKEE !!!!

07-01-2025, 11:27 AM	#25
Descant Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Merrimack and Welch Island Posts: 4,449 Thanks: 1,373 Thanked 1,650 Times in 1,078 Posts	At about 8:30 this am Chrome gave me a message that "Site not available" "Too long a time to load." Just logged in at 11:20 am, all OK.

07-01-2025, 11:48 AM	#26
tis Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 6,810 Thanks: 759 Thanked 1,469 Times in 1,025 Posts	Bad, then good, then bad, then good for me too.

07-01-2025, 04:08 PM	#27
DickR Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Moultonborough Posts: 757 Thanks: 4 Thanked 259 Times in 171 Posts	Just now (4pm Tuesday), after a couple more weeks of failure due to timing out, suddenly we have Winni forum again! This time I got a screen (quickly, and going away quickly on its own), saying it was checking to see if I were a real person (albeit with gradually fading intelligence), rather than an AI-based intruder. I suspect webmaster will be along to say something to address this site-theft has been installed. Perhaps he shouldn't say just was installed (if so), and not help the attackers figure out how to hack that tool.