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Why is Google so slow on Plusnet?

Azagoth
Grafter
Posts: 661
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Why is Google so slow on Plusnet?

For the past three or so days Google.co.uk (and other Google owned sites like Gmail) has been taking anywhere upto a minute to load.  This is across numerous devices (phones, tablets, PCs and TVs) all with different operating systems, all with different browsers and all with different specifications.  The only commonality between all these is that they're connected to the internet via my Plusnet connection.  This is both wired and wireless.
If I connect to my Neighbour's wifi then Google loads almost instantaneously, so it's obviously something within the Plusnet network that's causing this.  Trace route shows no problems
C:\Users>tracert www.google.co.uk
Tracing route to www.google.co.uk [212.56.71.99]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
 1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.1.1
 2    12 ms    12 ms    12 ms  lo0.10.Central10.pcl-bng04.plus.net [195.166.130.177]
 3    13 ms    12 ms    12 ms  irb.10.PCL-CR01.plus.net [84.93.249.81]
 4    13 ms    13 ms    12 ms  ae2.pcl-cr02.plus.net [195.166.129.7]
 5    13 ms    12 ms    12 ms  plusnet-lcy4.plus.net [212.56.71.99]
Trace complete.
C:\Users>

Yet at the minute I'm sat watching the little circle go around with 'connecting to Google' being displayed for the past 30 seconds.
No other sites are experiencing this, it's just Google.
13 REPLIES 13
legalfreak
Dabbler
Posts: 15
Registered: ‎08-12-2014

Re: Why is Google so slow on Plusnet?

I am here in Hertfordshire and can confirm that since this morning pages are loading at a snail's pace.
The issue is more pronounced on my laptop (wireless) than on my tablet.
Terrible.
agentgonzo
Grafter
Posts: 41
Registered: ‎02-07-2012

Re: Why is Google so slow on Plusnet?

We're experiencing slow problems with google and can verify the same behaviour as people above (and other posts on the internet). Plusnet access to all Google APIs (gmail, youtube) is slow at various times of day, sometimes taking over 30s to get anything.

 

It's infuriating. 

disfroot
Rising Star
Posts: 236
Thanks: 11
Registered: ‎28-04-2008

Re: Why is Google so slow on Plusnet?

me too - I just waited over a minute for www.google.com/advanced_search to load. This is just the latest in a series of performance issues I have had with the Plusnet Google Cache machine at 212.56.71.93 (plusnet-lcy4.plus.net).

 

I know this is Google hardware and Plusnet are not allowed to touch it, but someone should tell them that is is b0rked, .e.g. for weeks now none of my computers have been able to load Google Maps correctly - they stall on first load with only about 20% of the map tiles loaded. If I try to do anything with the partially loaded page, a marching blue line appears across the top of the page and that's it - no more progress.

 

I've tried turning it off and turning it on again ( i.e. trying to get a different gateway) but this isn't a fix - the cache machine just doesn't serve up the requests. If I try an operation that seems to bypass the Plusnet Google Cache box, e.g. Satellite/Earth tiles ( which are served directly from Google), everything works.

 

Amazing that this has no reporting/alerting strategy.

Mustrum
Community Veteran
Posts: 3,554
Thanks: 1,055
Fixes: 76
Registered: ‎13-08-2015

Re: Why is Google so slow on Plusnet?

Have you tried google.co.uk? Might give you a better chance of a connection..

disfroot
Rising Star
Posts: 236
Thanks: 11
Registered: ‎28-04-2008

Re: Why is Google so slow on Plusnet?

both are served by the Google Cache hardware at Plusnet AFAIK, so if that is the problem, going .co.uk wouldn't help.

Mustrum
Community Veteran
Posts: 3,554
Thanks: 1,055
Fixes: 76
Registered: ‎13-08-2015

Re: Why is Google so slow on Plusnet?

No idea if that's how it works, if so perhaps a gateway hop would improve things. It works fine for me, never had a problem with Google.

Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Why is Google so slow on Plusnet?

My experience is that all Google related services work faster and more reliably over IPv6.

 

If your internet router is capable of using '6in4' tunneling as a method of IPv6 connection,  then I would HIGHLY recommend signing up for a FREE Hurricane Electric "IPv6 Tunnel Broker" account.

 

To get IPv6 working, you simply open a "Tunnel Broker" account, enter some IP addresses into your router, enter your Plusnet IPv4 WAN IP address into your account control panel, enable your router to respond to PINGs, and IPv6 works - perfectly !.

You will also need a static IP address from Plusnet for a single payment of £5.

 

I have been using this service for over three years, and Youtube is noticeably less prone to stalling or buffering,  and I never see issues connecting to Google.

 

Thumbs_Up

agentgonzo
Grafter
Posts: 41
Registered: ‎02-07-2012

Re: Why is Google so slow on Plusnet?

You really shouldn't have to buy a fixed IP address and run ipv6 just because plusnet can't sort their network out!
Townman
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 22,922
Thanks: 9,539
Fixes: 158
Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: Why is Google so slow on Plusnet?

@bobpullen,

Has this issue got any relationship to the new network?  I have a fixed IP address and thus I assume that I am still on the old network?  (No xDSL drop for a long time).  My route o google.co.uk & google.com is quite different and I perceive no delays...

#Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.10586]
#15/05/2016-15:10:49.73
C:\Users\Kevin>tracert google.co.uk

Tracing route to google.co.uk [216.58.208.163]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1   389 ms    70 ms     1 ms  dsldevice.lan [192.168.1.254]
  2   433 ms   164 ms    32 ms  lo0.10.central10.pcl-bng01.plus.net [195.166.130.138]
  3   369 ms   235 ms    32 ms  irb.10.PCL-CR02.plus.net [84.93.249.82]
  4   317 ms    31 ms    32 ms  ae1.ptw-cr02.plus.net [195.166.129.2]
  5    32 ms    32 ms    32 ms  72.14.223.32
  6    34 ms    31 ms    33 ms  64.233.174.113
  7    32 ms    34 ms   288 ms  216.239.46.39
  8    32 ms    31 ms    31 ms  lhr25s09-in-f3.1e100.net [216.58.208.163]

Trace complete.

#Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.10586]
#15/05/2016-15:11:19.37
C:\Users\Kevin>tracert google.com

Tracing route to google.com [216.58.210.46]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1  2688 ms   392 ms    35 ms  dsldevice.lan [192.168.1.254]
  2    67 ms   220 ms   463 ms  lo0.10.central10.pcl-bng01.plus.net [195.166.130.138]
  3    32 ms    66 ms    34 ms  irb.10.PCL-CR01.plus.net [84.93.249.81]
  4   124 ms    32 ms    34 ms  ae1.ptw-cr01.plus.net [195.166.129.0]
  5    32 ms    32 ms    32 ms  72.14.222.97
  6    33 ms    32 ms    32 ms  72.14.232.193
  7   456 ms    32 ms    32 ms  108.170.232.105
  8   473 ms   102 ms    31 ms  lhr25s11-in-f14.1e100.net [216.58.210.46]

Trace complete.

 

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

disfroot
Rising Star
Posts: 236
Thanks: 11
Registered: ‎28-04-2008

Re: Why is Google so slow on Plusnet?

And if you tracert www.google.co.uk instead of google.co.uk ?Huh

 

I get the same as you for the non-www host

C:\Users\user>tracert google.co.uk

Tracing route to google.co.uk [216.58.213.99]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     1 ms     1 ms     1 ms  192.168.0.254
  2    11 ms    11 ms    10 ms  lo0.10.central10.ptn-bng01.plus.net [195.166.128
.228]
  3    10 ms    10 ms    10 ms  irb.10.PTW-CR01.plus.net [84.93.249.1]
  4    10 ms    10 ms    10 ms  72.14.222.97
  5    10 ms    10 ms    10 ms  72.14.232.219
  6    10 ms    10 ms    10 ms  216.239.57.119
  7    10 ms    10 ms    10 ms  lhr25s02-in-f3.1e100.net [216.58.213.99]

Trace complete.

C:\Users\user>tracert www.google.co.uk

Tracing route to www.google.co.uk [212.56.71.154]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     1 ms     1 ms     1 ms  192.168.0.254
  2    10 ms     9 ms     9 ms  lo0.10.central10.ptn-bng01.plus.net [195.166.128
.228]
  3    10 ms    10 ms     9 ms  irb.10.PTW-CR01.plus.net [84.93.249.1]
  4    10 ms    10 ms    10 ms  ae1.pcl-cr01.plus.net [195.166.129.1]
  5    10 ms    10 ms    12 ms  ae2.pcl-cr02.plus.net [195.166.129.7]
  6    11 ms    10 ms    10 ms  ggc02.plus.net [212.56.71.154]

Trace complete.

I notice that the route is now to a host called ggc02

I have checked desktop Google Maps and it now seems to load all the tiles and decorations, albeit slowly - much slower than line rate.

bobpullen
Community Gaffer
Community Gaffer
Posts: 16,869
Thanks: 4,950
Fixes: 315
Registered: ‎04-04-2007

Re: Why is Google so slow on Plusnet?


@Townman wrote:

@bobpullen,

Has this issue got any relationship to the new network?

I don't think so. AIUI, it's the same boxes being used across both networks (at least for the time being)* There's going to be differences in the routing though.

There was a callout over the weekend related to the Google caches but it's light on detail. Interested to know if people are still encountering problems?


 * My understanding was incorrect. The caching isn't being used on the new network at present.

Bob Pullen
Plusnet Product Team
If I've been helpful then please give thanks ⤵

disfroot
Rising Star
Posts: 236
Thanks: 11
Registered: ‎28-04-2008

Re: Why is Google so slow on Plusnet?

Back to the old problem with desktop Maps for me as of about 5 mins ago - only a random selection of the map tiles load, then the marching blue line across the top - no changes at my end. So I would say it is broken (again)

disfroot
Rising Star
Posts: 236
Thanks: 11
Registered: ‎28-04-2008

Re: Why is Google so slow on Plusnet?

I have fixed my Google Maps problem - it is a SPDY or HTTP/2 protocol problem.

 

In Firefox do

 

about:config

 

then change these prefs from the default value of true to false by double-clicking each in turn

 

network.http.spdy.enabled false
network.http.spdy.enabled.http2 false
network.http.spdy.enabled.http2draft false
network.http.spdy.enabled.v3-1 false

Whether this is code in my (oldish) router that is unhappy with SPDY or HTTP/2 framing or whether this is elsewhere in the pipe, I have no idea.

 

All I know is that Google Maps loads as fast as I remembered it ( i.e. almost instantaneously) now that I have disabled the new, improved, faster protocol and gone back to HTTP/1.1

 

Loving your work, Google.

 

ps - to kill HTTP/2 in Chrome 50 (Win), start it with the command-line switch --disable-http2, e.g. for  a Program Files install location

"C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --disable-http2

and confirm you've killed it with

 

chrome://net-internals/#http2

This also fixes my tiles not loading problem in Chrome - smoking gun for HTTP/2