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Foreign Websites

southerner
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 632
Thanks: 65
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎27-11-2013

Foreign Websites

Please tell me fibre will increase the rendering speed of foreign websites (eg. US, AU, DE) ? The Pro Add-On didn't help. I totally beleive in Plusnet as an ex-BT customer and Retentions gave me a great deal today but I just hope it will improve things 😕
14 REPLIES 14
matt_2k34
Grafter
Posts: 1,300
Registered: ‎09-07-2007

Re: Foreign Websites

I don't understand?
The speed of what you see depends on what you're browsing on - and how well it is set up. With fibre having faster speed - if your device "asks" for data from multiple links (e.g. it can download 8 things at a time, instead of 1) then yes, you are.
However the problem with "foreign" sites is that they are out of Plusnets network so there is little they can do to do with the speeed (any UK ISP is in the same boat) it depends on who peers between your ISP and the site you're trying to get on.
Can you give any example of sites which you feel are slow?
southerner
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 632
Thanks: 65
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎27-11-2013

Re: Foreign Websites

Hi Matt, I'm trying to engage in a lot of research work that is mainly US based but a lot of the sites involved are also Australian and German through experience. I have to use IE for this work. I prefer Firefox but unfortunately that's not an option. Take for instance newspaper articles in these locales. They seem very slow at rendering and I feel I'm missing out on the work to people in these locales that have the servers involved local to them. Eg. google.co.uk, barclaycard.co.uk and bbc.co.uk are lightening fast to me but once I go out of the UK I feel things really slow down. Take for instance www.forbes.com, www.cbs.com, www.nytimes.com, http://investing.businessweek.com/research/company/overview/overview.asp .
GeordieMark
Grafter
Posts: 335
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎10-11-2013

Re: Foreign Websites

Are you using Plusnet's DNS? I noticed a massive difference when I switched to google's
matt_2k34
Grafter
Posts: 1,300
Registered: ‎09-07-2007

Re: Foreign Websites

Mark_ Makes a good point, personally I use OpenDNS as I try and avoid using anything Google...
208.67.222.222 / 208.67.220.220
You can set these in your router if you want them used for all devices.
I've just tried all 3 links and they insta-loaded for me, using IE on windwos 8 Smiley

Changing DNS on Windows 8
Changing DNS on Windows 7
Instructions ^ Smiley
southerner
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 632
Thanks: 65
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎27-11-2013

Re: Foreign Websites

Really? Is it Plusnet's DNS servers that are slowing me down? 😮 :s
GeordieMark
Grafter
Posts: 335
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎10-11-2013

Re: Foreign Websites

Loading instantly here on google's DNS too.
Matt, I actually use both, google as primary and OpenDNS as secondary, can't go wrong!
EDIT: woodm, Might not be but it's worth a try even if only to narrow down where the problem lies.
matt_2k34
Grafter
Posts: 1,300
Registered: ‎09-07-2007

Re: Foreign Websites

Depends, if it is the DNS you've find these a "delay" before anything starts to load, but when it loads it feels pretty snappy?
Try the above IPs I just posted as your DNS, and see if it makes any difference.
Matt

Fair Mark_ Personally I've heard of people having issues with EU sites when using Google DNS.. people see Google and assume its going to be the best 😛
GeordieMark
Grafter
Posts: 335
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎10-11-2013

Re: Foreign Websites

Well that's why I have opendns in there too, I never like to rely on one provider / company etc Wink
southerner
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 632
Thanks: 65
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎27-11-2013

Re: Foreign Websites

Thanks guys. I've pointed my DNS to the OpenDNS servers mentoned. Let's see if that improves things over the next few days. I'll review my fibre decision after that 🙂
GeordieMark
Grafter
Posts: 335
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎10-11-2013

Re: Foreign Websites

Nice one let us know how you get on.
Just to add, you'll have to restart your adapter for the changes to take effect (or reboot your PC if that's easier)
southerner
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 632
Thanks: 65
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎27-11-2013

Re: Foreign Websites

Got it, thanks! I'll report back later in the week.
matt_2k34
Grafter
Posts: 1,300
Registered: ‎09-07-2007

Re: Foreign Websites

Fair enough Mark_ Wink
It's worth noting you can add more than 2 DNS servers - by hitting the "advanced" tab if you really wanted to...
Glad we could help woodm Smiley
GeordieMark
Grafter
Posts: 335
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎10-11-2013

Re: Foreign Websites

Getting a bit off topic and over what woodm is looking to do, but I do have 3 configured in my router (TP-Link running DD-WRT) Google - OpenDNS - Plusnet's (as a backup, backup  Tongue )
woodm let us know how you get on and if you have any more issues / questions  Smiley
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Foreign Websites

I just tried all three links on my slow 6.7Mbps ADSL connection, and the first visit to each site took about 7 to 9 seconds to load.
However I have an http caching proxy server on my local network, so subsequent visits to those sites loaded completely in about two seconds.
If you are spending a lot of time visiting the same slow websites, then a caching proxy can speed things up a lot. !


On the subject of DNS,  if you have your own local caching DNS server such as dnsmasq,  then you can provide it with a list of fast public DNS servers that you wish to use.  When your browser asks for a DNS lookup, then dnsmasq will firstly try and give a response from it's cache, otherwise it will simultaneously request a lookup from ALL the configured public DNS servers, and return the result of the one that replied most quickly.  This gives a good speed improvement compared with the usual method of DNS lookups.


The other trick that sometimes gives good results, particularly on American sites, is to use the Hurricane Electric IPv6 tunnel, as their routing to American IPv6 sites can often be faster than the equivalent IPv4 route taken via Plusnet.  Unfortunately none of the three links provided appeared to be IPv6 capable,  but it might be a possibility for other American and German websites.


You might want to try speeding loading times by reducing the number of constituent parts that make up each page.
On Firefox I have the advert blocker "Adblock Plus" that stops unwanted ads being loaded, perhaps there is an equivalent for Internet Explorer.
When visiting many sites, you will often see during page loads, the status saying "waiting for facebook".  Try altering your local DNS settings, or OpenDNS filtering, to block the often tedious delay introduced by many links to social networking sites that you don't use.