There are a variety of factors that can contribute to
occasional slow download speeds or time-outs. One
thing that you can rule out is lack of bandwidth directly
into the facility where your site is located.
If it seems that your site generally is always slow, it
may be because you have images on your pages that are too
large. A rule of thumb is to try to make images 20k or less.
If you have larger images, try using image compression
software which you can download free at
www.download.com. Most image editing programs such
as Photoshop 5.5 or Paint Shop Pro will have JPG/GIF image
compression included.
If your site experiences repetitive, but intermittent (or non-contiguous) slow-downs on a shared server, you may be experiencing "bad-neighbor syndrome." This happens if another client violates their terms of service and consumes too much CPU or memory resource in a short interval of time. If you notice this, please inform support personnel immediately (ideally during the slow-down), so that they can address the problem. MediaCatch uses high-end multi-processor systems for hosting accounts, so this type of slow-down only occurs with severe violations of the terms of service.
Way
to check where the slow-down is:
1) Check the path from your computer to your web site:
When you download from your site, you are taking a path
to get from your computer to your web site. This tool below
will show the path that you are taking to get to your site
and where the slowdown may be. To do so using Windows:
- Go to START
- Click on PROGRAMS
- Click on MS-DOS PROMPT
- Type TRACERT MYDOMAIN.COM (replace mydomain.com
with your domain or IP address)
You will see output that has lines like this:
93 ms |
81ms |
55 ms |
sl-bb11-pen-3-2.sprintlink.net |
[144.232.5.73] |
* |
34 ms |
567
ms |
sl-bb13-pen-10-0.sprintlink.net |
[144.232.5.158] |
132 ms |
200 ms |
111 ms |
pos3-1-0-155M.hr2.IAD.gblx.net |
[206.132.253.50] |
Each of the three numbers above are three attempts that
your computer makes to get to that location. A
* or any number
over 350 is a sign of a
slow link.
In the example above, the slow link is with SPRINT. If
you see a slow link, we don't suggest you call your Internet
provider and immediately report it. Occasional slow links
on the Internet are common. However, if it is always like
that, you may want to consider calling them.
2) Check the path from your web site to your
computer: The return path, that is, going from your web
site back to your computer, may take a different path
altogether. To check the return path:
- Login into your Control Panel
- Click on "TRACEROUTE" or "Network
Troubleshooter"
- Follow the same guidelines for reading the output as
the example above.
3) See how fast your Internet Connection really
is. Your computer may say 53k, but your ISP may be
overloaded. Take this
Bandwidth Speed Test.
3) If you want to use a graphical program to show
trace routes from your computer, try
Neotrace.
4) If your website appears to be down, you should check
to see if it's accessible from another location before
lodging a support ticket. Sometimes, your Internet provider
may have routing issues. To see if your website works from
another location try this
proxy
surfing service. This is a useful tool to check to
see if your website is 'truely' down.
