Posted on 09/09/2026 6:55:32 AM PDT by rlmorel
I have been getting long delays in opening Free Republic pages or threads. It can take up to 5-10 seconds.
When posting a comment, I occasionally get a timeout error, sometimes even with the error it does post, and when I resubmit the post it without checking first by refreshing, I can sometimes get two posts.
Occasionally it times out completely opening a window and I get an NGINX gateway error.
This is happening on no other sites for me. I can ping any other number of Internet sites, and get 20 ms responses. Pinging freerepublic.com gives 60-70 ms responses.
If I ping all other websites, this is what I get:
PING whitehouse.gov (192.0.66.51): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.0.66.51: icmp_seq=0 ttl=60 time=26.331 ms
64 bytes from 192.0.66.51: icmp_seq=1 ttl=60 time=21.056 ms
64 bytes from 192.0.66.51: icmp_seq=2 ttl=60 time=37.691 ms
64 bytes from 192.0.66.51: icmp_seq=3 ttl=60 time=21.747 ms
64 bytes from 192.0.66.51: icmp_seq=4 ttl=60 time=29.494 ms
However, if I ping Free Republic, this is what I get:
PING freerepublic.com (45.79.56.181): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 45.79.56.181: icmp_seq=0 ttl=52 time=71.808 ms
64 bytes from 45.79.56.181: icmp_seq=1 ttl=52 time=68.921 ms
64 bytes from 45.79.56.181: icmp_seq=2 ttl=52 time=68.656 ms
64 bytes from 45.79.56.181: icmp_seq=3 ttl=52 time=62.789 ms
64 bytes from 45.79.56.181: icmp_seq=4 ttl=52 time=62.876 ms
I see this kind of disparity universally, ping times to Free Republic are 2-3 times longer.
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Yes. Same here. Very slow to load now. And even longer to post. Sometimes it just times out.
I am seeing it from my desktop AND from mobile devices.
I did that, no change.
A little bit.
I tried that, no dice.
Additionally, I turned off my wireless networking and bypassed my infrastructure by connecting to Free Republic via my celluar connection.
I get instantaneous connections elsewhere, but FR is delayed.
Yes. Slow to load.
Noticed the double and even triple posts have started showing up again - I make sure I wait after hitting post b/c there is a good delay before the post is published.
See my comment #19 above.
Deliberate, yes, but not out of meanness. Out of a need to keep the site alive and online, but slower.
Heh, okay...perfect!
And I have to take my sister to ER as a moose bit her.
Yes.
Yes, all the time. Hitting “Reply” to your post threw this after 50 seconds:
504 Gateway Time-out
nginx/1.18.0 (Ubuntu)
Tried a second time and page loaded after ten seconds. It’s gotten bad.
Chris Robinson would do a great service to all members if he posted a “State of FR” report. He could discuss planned directions, finances, improvements, performance, moderation, strategic direction, etc. Everything is always so opaque except for the begging for more money.
Yes, but slow response times are evident all the time. Day and night.
If storage, bandwidth, or whatever is being taxed means slower response times, then why is this a 24/7 problem? The servers should be at full capacity at 2:30 am.
I give at least $300 a year on a monthly...so I do my part. Free Republic is my jumping off point on the Internet...I have a couple of other websites I visit (Primarily The Daily Signal, Bill Whittle, and American Thinker) but I find FR is the best at keeping track of current events, and providing the context that other sites don’t...so the delay is a bit more irritating for me than it might be for others.
Heh, the world isn’t ending (as Homer Simpson says!) but I don’t like acclimating myself to the delay.
I would be really irritable if the delay WAS deliberate, though I don’t think it is.
Or getting banned by mods.
Yes, and I don’t see comparable delay on other sites like overseas news. I have browser set to clear cache on exit, so sites with imagery should take longer than the text only FR.
I don’t know if FR has its own servers or if they’re “cloud”. If cloud, could be that facility.
It could also be some entity using AI to do a full download of all FR content from its inception, looking for people to assassinate.
I am retired now, but when working I was a Sysadmin for multiple major systems at a Level 1 trauma hospital, and I would get really, REALLY itchy, twitchy, and nervous when I began seeing delays in response times for anything.
THAT was usually a harbinger of much worse times and sleepless nights if the underlying problems were not addressed.
I sure as hell do not miss those days.
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