XF 2.2 Version v2.2.5 Buffering

[Ben44]

Hi guys,
I am running version v2.2.5 and am now suffering buffering when uploading a post.
The site loads ok and my host Fasthosts has checked there end and cannot find any problems.
They asked me to send them some server setting and I sent them:

You have the recommended PHP version.
PHP version - 7.4.15
MySQL version - 5.6.51 (5.6.51-log)
PHP memory_limit - 256M
PHP post_max_size - 40M
PHP upload_max_filesize - 40M
PHP max_input_vars - 9999
PHP max_execution_time - 120
cURL version - 7.29.0
cURL SSL version - NSS/3.53.1
OpenSSL version - OpenSSL 1.0.2k 26 Jan 2017
Suhosin enabled - No
Imagick support - No
EXIF support - Yes
GZip supportv - Yes
mbstring support - Yes
gmp suppor - tYes
ZipArchive support - Yes

I've posted the above in full as I don't understand a single thing about it.

I have received an update from them saying:

Have you checked this with the software developer?
They might have some recommendations on how to fix this performance
issues with your website using their software.

So any comments or suggestions are more than welcome. I have never had any problems with xenforo
before.

 

[Ben44]

There has to be a reason why Xenforo is buffering and nothing else is and not my Vbulletin forum,
Despite more than 30 views, there isn't a single comment.

There must be a problem with the software. there can't be any other reason that xenforo is buffering and nothing else is ?

 

[duderuud]

What exactly do you mean by buffering? Do you mean that after posting a thread/reply the website is taking a while before giving you the result?

Normally that means a server issue, probably MySQL. You could ask your host for the MySQL (slow query) logs to see if that is the case.

I can tell you that Xenforo by itself is not the issue, plenty of really fast Xenforo installs around

 

[Ben44]

Thank you D.
Yes, after writing or answering a post or doing some other things, when you press save an orange bar runs
across the top.
I will put that to my host and come back with what they say.

At 80yo I don't know much about these things, so what should I be looking for if they supply this log ?

 

[duderuud]

If you receive the log you can post it here as an attachment. Other people can help you with that.

If your host is dragging it's feet, you should maybe consider moving to another host. But let's first see if you receive those logs

 

[Ben44]

Thank you so much. I won't have any hesitation to move if I have to.

 

[Ben44]

I've worked with the engineers and we have tried a few things and have now had a note

"We've heard back from our Engineers and as per by them there is only 2 entries in the slow
queries log on that server and neither of those entries relate to your database."

I'm now going to try a couple of other browsers than Edge, Edge does some funny things at times so ..........

 

[Mike]

Is it only when posting a message? Is it consistent or variable? How long are we talking?

There are a lot of variables and a message taking a handful of seconds to post isn't entirely unexpected depending on circumstances. Most notably if you have notifications being sent to users of the new message (alerts in XF, emails, push notifications). We do defer some of this but it might run for a little bit. If you create a new forum in the control panel and then go post a test thread and reply in there, that would probably take the notification time out of it.

Beyond that, it sounds like it could be down to server write speed. They mention slow query logging but that might not be directly relevant depending on their logging settings and exactly what is taking time. If the log is set to only include queries that take over 3 seconds (for example), but the situation ends up with multiple queries taking 2.5 seconds each, then it's going to be slow with no logs. The queries from replying shouldn't be overly slow, but there is data that has to be written and that can rely on server configuration and potentially hard drive speed as well.

 

[Ben44]

So what have I done here to try and eliminate the problem.
I have used 5 different browsers but the problem continued.

Late last evening I responded to a new thread about Office Outlook, my reply was small
"How long do previews take to come through to the main stream ??"
That buffered for 3 seconds so I did another post on that thread of the same size and that buffered.

I have made a test post with a hundred lines of text and added 6 big pictures, that uploaded fine with just the 2 runs of the
orange band across the top.

I have done a complete sanitization of my M.2 and reinstalled a newly downloaded Windows, I have done this a couple
of times with anti-virus and without even installing without the chipset driver to see if that made any difference, have
visited Asus and downloaded the latest driver but the problem continues. Surely this has to be a server problem.

I am on Virginmedia BB with 370mb down and 40mb up I have checked the speeds immediately after a buffer and they are
as they should be so can rule that out.

They say their engineers have checked it out and can find no problems.

One question about moving hosts please, that will mean a new IP address, so does that take me back to the beginning as if I am a new
forum and will it affect me in searches etc ?

 

[Rhody]

The speed of the site in your tagline seems quite quick and normal to me. Are you having the same issue when visiting from your mobile phone, or a different computer outside of that location? It could be something on the pc itself, like a slow anti virus program.

 

[djbaxter]

The speed of the site in your tagline seems quite quick and normal to me. Are you having the same issue when visiting from your mobile phone, or a different computer outside of that location? It could be something on the pc itself, like a slow anti virus program.

Loads very quickly, pretty much instantaneously for me too.

One question about moving hosts please, that will mean a new IP address, so does that take me back to the beginning as if I am a new
forum and will it affect me in searches etc ?

No. You don't lose anything by switching hosts or switching IP addresses.

But from what you've written and the fact that your sig link loads very quickly I'm not convinced this is a hosting problem per se. It may have to do with the way the server is configured... but it sounds to me more like a local issue where you're perhaps not loading all of the scripts or something similar.

Do you load the scripts for your forum locally rather than from Google? You might play around with that a bit and see if it helps.

 

[Ben44]

The actual site load times are fine usually, it's the uploading of posts when responding to one.#
I just clicked on 'Forum' to return to the front page and it took 20 seconds.

Just going to change PC and see if that is the same.

 

[Mike]

hat buffered for 3 seconds so I did another post on that thread of the same size and that buffered.

To be honest, I wouldn't say that 3 seconds is that far outside the realm of normality, though given the variables I mentioned, it's hard to say. (Testing with the approaches I mentioned previously would help eliminate some variables.)

I just clicked on 'Forum' to return to the front page and it took 20 seconds.

That's clearly not normal, but the challenge is that it's hard to know why something like this might happen. It could be a temporary connectivity issue on the route between you and the server or it could be some sort of "blip" on the server (of which there could be many specific things).

Your site does definitely appear quick to me while I've been browsing around, though that doesn't eliminate temporary or infrequent server issues.

It might be worth asking your members to see if they see the same issues that you are noticing.

 

[Ben44]

A million thanks for all the replies and I have now moved to todo10.com and all the problems have gone, there is no
delay or buffering at all.
Although Fasthosts said they checked the server and could not find any faults, there must have been something wrong
in the setup or something.
When it did happen I immediately did online speed checks and my download was 370mb and 40 up.

Being old and doddery I couldn't do the move myself but todo10 did it all for me, it was done quickly and smoothly and not a
single problem with the site had to be corrected except to reinstall one addon. I don't think I have ever had custom
service like this from any company anywhere so a big thanks to them, plus they are cheaper than Fasthosts.