Reddit is lagging...

Hey there, mods!

I’ve got a bit of a bone to pick with you guys and how this site is running—hopefully I’m in the right place to vent.

So, here’s the deal: out of maybe 100 times I’ve tried logging in, I’ve actually made it through maybe 50% of the time? The other half... well, either the site is totally MIA, or it just completely crashes right while I'm trying to hit "send," leaving me hanging for days at a time... 🙂 I mean, I get it, you’ll eventually fix the servers or whatever, but we're talking about this happening for almost two years straight now.

Is it seriously possible that you haven't been able to iron out these kinks in two whole years?

Don't take this the wrong way—I know I might sound a little extra critical here—but I'm just calling it like I see it and sharing my frustration.

Best,

...and did it ever occur to any of you to actually troubleshoot your own issue
by trying to log into Reddit from a different computer altogether?

...the reason I’m even suggesting this is because
I have personally never run into anything even remotely similar to what you're describing,
whether I was logging in from my own rig or someone else's device,
using Wi-Fi in a different city, or just jumping on mobile data via a hotspot...

And here I was, thinking this whole Reddit thread was starting to turn into a total Mislav Bago tribute act... :/

503 all the way, man. Đekna isn't dead just yet—though God knows when that might actually happen.

loneraven25 said:...and it never even crossed your mind to check if it was actually your problem
by logging into Reddit from a different computer..?

Look, I’m not some 13 or 15-year-old kid here.
I’ve been working with computers for a long time, and I know my stuff—internet, operating systems, servers, all of it.

(I’m guessing the servers are just crashing because too many people are hitting this forum at once, which is why I mentioned that in my first post...)

I know my OS and exactly what’s inside it (and yeah, I mean I actually know which files are loaded, not just hitting 'Run') as well as my network setup better than 93% of the folks
on this site know their own systems.
Plus, I totally get how forums work—how they *actually* function under the hood... etc.
Let's just say I'm a respected, heavy-hitting member not just on the big US message boards, but on massive international sites that are way more famous and like 3x "bigger" than this one or any other site in the States.

So, my critique still stands, but it looks like the admins don't really have much interest in making an announcement... if they had just written out what you said, I would've gotten it.
Hopefully, this thread sparked at least one decent discussion over on Modzone.

At least you stepped up and joined the conversation.

Cheers,

Even though I’m still more than happy to jump in and help you sort this whole mess out, I’ve realized that I’m still sitting here staring at a screen waiting for the one specific answer I actually need.

loneraven25 said:And honestly, did it never even cross your minds to actually go back and double-check the source of your own problems?
So, I’m finally getting around to setting up my account on Reddit. It feels like one of those small, necessary life milestones, doesn't it? You spend all this time lurking in the shadows, reading through the endless threads and absorbing everyone else's opinions, but then you realize that if you actually want to participate in the conversation—or at least attempt to—you have to go through the whole registration process. It’s funny how much mental energy we expend on these little digital formalities, isn't it? Anyway, here I am, officially jumping into the fray. I was actually trying to log in from a different computer...?

I wouldn't dream of questioning your grasp on hardware specs or how an OS actually functions, mind you.
And let’s be honest, you really can't expect anyone to walk you through a solution when the whole thing is built on nothing more than a handful of shaky assumptions, can you?
Is it possible you’ve got some kind of aggressive AdBlock script running in the background, or maybe you installed one of those shady password-cracking apps without thinking twice?
Should you try clearing out your cache automatically, maybe run an anti-logger, or just sit down and give your antivirus settings a thorough once-over?
Is it even possible that you guys just... forget to check the box when you're signing up for an account? I mean, really, do we just breeze right past that little checkbox during the registration process without giving it a second thought? 🤷

George Vaughn58 said:Look, my critique still stands, but it’s becoming pretty obvious that the admins don't exactly have a burning desire to make any big announcements... I mean, if they had just been upfront and written out exactly what you said, I probably would have understood where they were coming from, wouldn't I?

Regarding this whole situation, just keep in mind that this PDF is essentially the official channel for any user suggestions, critiques, or formal complaints you might have.
And honestly, if you're still having those annoying issues with logging in, wouldn't you get a much more helpful, high-quality answer if you just moved the conversation over to Reddit? Reddit...!

loneraven25, what about everyone else getting those 503 and 504 errors? You think they're all logging on from the exact same IP or using the same PC? 🤔

The whole "it's user error" theory kind of falls apart when you have over 30 people—including the admin—all saying the site was down during the same window.
thread

...those annoying 503, 504, and 408 database errors have basically become part of the fabric of life on this Reddit community,
honestly, when I don't see those errors popping up, it actually sets off alarm bells in my head.
it’s like when a group of toddlers suddenly goes quiet—you just know they're busy causing absolute mayhem somewhere nearby... 😁
...though, in all my time here, I've never once been logged out just because of one of those little "technical greetings"...

George Vaughn58 said:Basically, out of about 100 attempts to log in to this site, I've only actually succeeded maybe 50% of the time.

🤷

Maybe a guy logs out after every single visit to Reddit, then tries to get back in only to get slapped with an error message.

Elizabeth Davis said:Maybe the guy logs out after every single visit, then hits an error the moment he tries to log back in.

Whatever this person is doing—or trying to do—everyone else manages to post "every second" without any major issues. I'm not counting minutes or hours here; most of the time there isn't even a single new post on the site for long stretches.

This site isn't the cause of his technical glitches. He’s either exaggerating the issue or he’s essentially causing it himself. Even if we assume it's just bad timing, try logging in and out continuously for 24 hours straight. You wouldn't get a 50/50 split of failures and successes; you'd hit such a streak of errors that you'd eventually lose your mind. And even if you did hit that 50/50 mark, half the results would still favor the site. It comes down to "timing," or more likely, user error.

Honestly, I’m kind of on board with them being extra about it. I don't get why anyone would go through all that trouble just to log in and browse this Reddit 🤷

especially if they’re already coming over from some massive, high-tier 😬online community
.

loneraven25 said:...in connection to this, just realize this is the thread for suggestions, critiques, and user complaints
while your login issues would probably get a much better response over on the Reddit sub-forum!

Thanks for the tip, man! Honestly, I had no clue. Maybe next time...
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Anyway, regarding everything else mentioned... I've been sitting here reading through all your comments for like half an hour now, just trying to figure out what to even say to you guys.

First off, let me own up to my part. I messed up by not being more specific in my first post, and I am seriously sorry about that.
It’s not like I have some massive issue with logging in, getting access, or the site failing to load when the forum is actually online. That's not it at all.
The headache starts when the forum goes offline. And yeah, it's happened where the site stays down for a couple of days straight.

So, look, in my second post, I laid out why I think this is happening, but clearly, it seems like nobody really took what I said seriously or even read it properly.
Like, if the servers are totally slammed because everyone is hitting the site at once and they can't handle the traffic spike—hey, I get it. Totally fine.
But I don't get why those same servers couldn't be, you know, "beefed up" a bit? Because obviously, I'm not the only one running into this. I just don't get it.

Let's be real here: is the issue with the forum itself, maybe some buggy scripts, or is it most likely an issue with wherever the site is hosted? I honestly don't know.
Even though I already mentioned that I know my way around an OS, how it runs, how the forum works, and how the internet functions, someone in the thread actually suggested that maybe I just forgot to check a box during login. Seriously?
Plus, some people literally took my post and tried to explain why my "50/50% chance of logging in" stat was mathematically impossible. Like, chill.

Some people even wrote that errors like a 504 are "normal" for a forum. I mean, sure, they happen, but not if they're happening *constantly*.
Do yourselves a favor and Google what a browser is actually trying to tell you when you see those error codes, or look up how DNS works and how queries are handled... etc.

I opened this thread hoping that the Admin (or the server admins) might actually see it and maybe one of them could weigh in.

I came to this forum for a reason, and I planned on staying for a short time, but I ended up sticking around longer because of this whole situation...

If it makes it easier for you all to believe the problem is me or my computer... Fine. Whatever. It doesn't cost me anything either way.

PS: ...just in case anyone actually cares about these points:
- I'm definitely not the only one dealing with this, and a buddy of mine is complaining about the exact same thing.
- And yeah, I've already tried using a different computer, a different browser, different operating systems, and even a different ISP.

Look, I apologize if I offended anyone, please don't take it personally.
Also, I probably won't be posting in this thread anymore since I haven't really achieved what I set out to do here.

All the best,

George Vaughn58 said:Also, some people actually took my post literally and tried to explain why a 50:50% login probability is statistically impossible.

Right. Even though you mentioned 50:50, I really should have written "...the outcome definitely wouldn't be 70:30..." and just fabricated whatever ratio favored your failed login attempts versus the successful ones.

George Vaughn58 said:I don't personally have an issue with logging in, accessing the site, or the page failing to load while the site is actually online.

The problem arises when the site goes offline.

There have been times when the site was offline for a few days at a time.

Yep. "Offline for a couple of days," then "online for a couple of days," then back to "offline for a couple of days." And so on. What was the ratio again? 50:50? 40:60? 95:5? Or maybe just zero?

If you’re talking about those specific issues we already have a thread for—and one of our regulars actually linked it earlier:

Elizabeth Davis said:thread

Honestly, us admins are kind of stuck with our hands tied here. :/ The server is just completely overwhelmed right now, and the tech guys are basically just applying digital Band-Aids wherever they can to keep things running. Until the owner decides to invest in some new hardware, this is just the reality we're dealing with. 😢

If I'm totally missing the mark and you meant something else entirely, would you mind clarifying a bit more for me?

@rustydrifter10
Thanks so much for getting back to me!
I had no clue! (tbf, I wasn't really paying that much attention when I dropped my first post!) On that thread, loneraven25 actually dropped a really solid link a bit later on, but...

rustydrifter10 I can't even begin to describe how much this guy says... he's just going on and on! Seriously, someone get him a glass of water or something, haha! He’s totally lost in his own world right now. It's wild!
Man, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but us admins are basically flying blind here. :/ The server is totally slammed right now, and the tech guys are just playing whack-a-mole trying to patch things up as they break. Until the owner coughs up the cash for a new setup, we’re stuck in this loop. It sucks, I know! 😢

Yeah, that’s pretty much the whole story. Simple as that!
So, look, this whole mess has been dragging on for way too long. I actually took a break from Reddit for a while, but once I hopped back on a couple of days ago, I saw that all those same issues are still happening... honestly, it totally set me off! I was just sitting there like, "Are you kidding me?" I seriously couldn't believe this stuff still hasn't been fixed yet.

Look, I totally believe you guys are doing the absolute best you can with what you've got, really, but the owner of this Reddit needs to start thinking way more seriously about scaling up and actually fixing this mess. This place has gotten massive! Believe me when I say I get it—I see all the grumpy users and I know keeping this whole thing running isn't exactly a walk in the park, but seriously, someone's gotta step up and find a solution. We need a plan!

Look, I was just laying out my own two cents above! Just giving you my honest take, some critique, and yeah, maybe a little bit of my frustration too.

Hey there! How's it going?

George Vaughn58 said:Look, I was just sharing my honest thoughts—just some personal feedback and venting about what's bothering me.

You're definitely not the only one feeling this way. Even the admins aren't thrilled, but we're all just making the best of what we've got.

Right after I hit Send Quick Reply, this popped up:

The connection was reset

The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading.

The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few
moments.
If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer's network
connection.
If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure
that Google Chrome is permitted to access the Web.

🤣

Daniel Ward87 said:You aren't alone. Even the admins are frustrated with this, but we have to make do with the tools at our disposal.

🤣 human resources too?

All jokes aside, this feels less like a system failure and more like an attempt at digital execution, though it is entirely possible we are simply dealing with trivial connection quality issues.
I manage to log in successfully, spend perhaps a minute or two typing, and then I am kicked out. I reconnect, find the post is marked private, and when I attempt to edit, I am booted from the site once again. This cycle repeats itself several times.

Jerry Robinson56 said:I manage to log in, write for maybe a minute or two, and then—bam—forced to log in again. I reconnect, see the post is private, try to edit it, and suddenly I'm kicked out of the page entirely. It’s a loop. Happens over and over.

Happening to me too, but there's an easy fix🤷
at least for me...


Just check the "remember me" box when you log in. That's it.

Thanks 👍 though, by the way,

I am not actually typing this from my own computer, haha—remote access.

Jerry Robinson56 said:🤣 human resources too?

All jokes aside, this feels more like a server hang, though it could just be some trivial connection quality issues.
I can log in successfully, type for maybe a minute or two, and then get kicked out. When I reconnect, the post shows up as private, then when I try to edit it, I'm booted from the site again. It keeps happening over and over.

That too 🙂

I haven't run into any of those specific bugs, so yeah 🤷