Request Timeout

[AyG]

Many times today I try to access a website and get a response along the following lines:

Request Timeout

The server timed out while waiting for the browser's request.
Reference #2.173299cb.1404210366.0

I'm presuming that this a result of the junta trying to protect us from information that might make us unhappy. If I'm right, does anyone happen to know what software happens to produce messages like this? And if I'm wrong, what's the cause?

[samuijimmy]

I have been getting the same, on and off for the last for days.... especially here on TV..... it's bloody annoying! Some times it's dead slow or I get that same message.... or it's as fast as a speeding bullet!

I had 3 BB out to check my line, that is not the problem! ..... ????....

I have been clearing the cache too.... which sometimes causes that problem....

It's the same on Firefox and Chrome on Mac .... with useless Chrome I cannot upload images

Edited July 1, 2014 by samuijimmy

[Gonsalviz]

I am suspecting slow internet. I have had no problems with any of these.

[schondie]

You're not the only ones, TOT has been the same for a few days. It doesn't matter which browser I use (Firefox, Chrome or Opera) the results are the same as yours.

It may have something to do with connecting to foreign servers as I've checked my internet speed, rebooted the modems and cleared out the cache from all browsers. The connection speed seems as regular as usual so it's more to do with non local servers I bet.

TOT's TV service is working fine though, no buffering so it's something more. Undersea cable or satellite connection.

[bluesofa]

I have been getting the same, on and off for the last for days.... especially here on TV..... it's bloody annoying! Some times it's dead slow or I get that same message.... or it's as fast as a speeding bullet!

I had 3 BB out to check my line, that is not the problem! ..... ????....

I have been clearing the cache too.... which sometimes causes that problem....

It's the same on Firefox and Chrome on Mac .... with useless Chrome I cannot upload images

I'vw been seeing exactly the same problem for the past few days too.

Initially I thought it was a problem acessing UK sites from here - most UK newspapers are painfully slow. I tried some sites I know are hosted in the US (not newspapers) and they seemed to load OK.

BKK Post & the Nation load OK. Checking on those, they both seem to be hosted in Thailand from what I can make out.

Also someone was telling me they haven't been able to get money out of cash machines here for a few days now when using a UK debit card. I've seen the ATM machines here have an ADSL connection. I'm guessing they're using a VPN to access their own bank data? So if there's a UK internet problem, then that could well explain that particular issue.

So whether it's international access problems to the UK, or whether some more murky problems are afoot, I 'm really not sure.

[Bpuumike]

I am suspecting slow internet. I have had no problems with any of these.

No problems for me either but I'm using a netcard & SIM so TOT not involved.

[NeverSure]

ISPs are independent and don't own any part of the internet beyond their own system. They have to buy or lease access to the real internet and they buy not only a data total but a limited amount of bandwidth at any one time.

In essence the ISP has to get internet just like we do. For us our ISP is our upstream, and our ISP had one or more upstreams. The easy way for the ISP is to "partner" with a major provider, often in the US. The major trunklines including international fiber optic cables and authoritative DNS servers etc. belong to major telecoms like IBM, Time Warner, AT&T etc.

My unscientific suspicion when in Thailand is that there isn't enough available bandwidth and it all gets crowded. When that happens it makes itself worse due to packet collisions and slow completions from CRC checks.

The internet access is cheap in Thailand compared to even the US. The difference is that in the US you'll get your advertised speed, and in Thailand, not so mutt.

Remember that the internet isn't owned by anyone, especially any government. It is an ad hoc group of willing participants, some geared up to provide a service for a fee. Right now I consider it one of the all time wonders of the world - just that it works for everyone.

[AyG]

I don't think this is a general question of shortage of bandwidth. This isn't a browser message, but is from a proxy server through which all communication is passing to ensure we don't look at anything the junta doesn't want us to see.

Prompted by comments above, I now realise that this (I think) is only happening on newspaper websites. I've noticed it on the Wall Street Journal, Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, The Guardian. It definitely appears to be a lack of capacity in the censorship system.

[ksamuiguy]

Unusually intense Sun Spot activity has been disrupting communications world wide for the last few weeks.

It is expected to last a few more weeks.

A conspericy from the Sun.

Try turning off and back on your router, it will change your IP address which may help..

[happynthailand]

if useing "FireFox" down load and install (from add ons)

"aonoymoX" free program,that should take care of the slow internet time out

plus can connect to any UK web site

[samuijimmy]

if useing "FireFox" down load and install (from add ons)

"aonoymoX" free program,that should take care of the slow internet time out

plus can connect to any UK web site

Just looked for that, on FF, says "no result found" I even tried using a different spelling! can you check yours !

I use Hola....to watch UK programs, which seems to work well .... (most of the time) It varies watching ITV and BBC .... BBC seems to be better with very little buffering.... ITV lately there seems to be more buffering up to a minute or more some times...

The thing I find, especially on TVF is I some times have to hit the link, a couple of times for it to finish loading a new page.... (that is with Hola off btw) .... so it's a real pain sometimes...

Maybe it is the sunspots! ??? ....although I have not seen that on the news lately, that that is a problem .....

[ThaidDown]

^^ The add on would be 'anonymox'

[samuijimmy]

^^ The add on would be 'anonymox'

Thanks... ... . but this is what I get.... I will try again later and hopefully sort out !! (better read instructions! )

"ERROR The requested URL could not be retrieved

The following error was encountered while trying to retrieve the URL: /en/gettingstarted

Invalid URL

Some aspect of the requested URL is incorrect.

Some possible problems are:

• Missing or incorrect access protocol (should be or similar)

• Missing hostname

• Illegal double-escape in the URL-Path

• Illegal character in hostname; underscores are not allowed.

Your cache administrator is [email protected]."

Edited July 2, 2014 by samuijimmy

[Retired2]

I use a VPN for banking and ebay/paypal transactions.

My VPN stopped working on Monday..... will no longer connect.

[KhunBENQ]

The described problem is unlikely related to internet speed.

See this troubleshooting page for Firefox:

https://support.mozilla.org/de/questions/1000079

Have you tried other browsers or the private browsing feature of Firefox.

My VPN works as usual.

Edited July 2, 2014 by KhunBENQ

[samuijimmy]

The described problem is unlikely related to internet speed.

See this troubleshooting page for Firefox:

https://support.mozilla.org/de/questions/1000079

Have you tried other browsers or the private browsing feature of Firefox.

My VPN works as usual.

Yes had my line checked by 3bb all was well..... so knew that was not the problem!

Thanks for the Moz support link..... followed instructions and for the moment at least after going through, things have speeded back up

.... now to try the telly sites again and see how that goes! ..... It was terrible this afternoon, so hope that fixed too!

[NeverSure]

I hope the advice sorted everything for the OP.

I have many times experienced internet so slow it timed out to any international server from Thailand. Running a ping test to known good servers is unrelated to any browser. I have experienced times in Thailand where a ping to any good server I could think of timed out. Rebooting modem, router, computer, changing DNS etc. didn't help.

OP, if your problem isn't sorted, and I hope it is, and you don't know how to run a ping test, post back.

Edited July 2, 2014 by NeverSure

[cooked]

I have the sameproblem, I can't access Huffington post easily, I have to wait and try again.

[alphason]

Same problem here using TOT. I get the request time out message, but also get a message in Win 7 popping up at the bottom task bar saying additional log on information may be required.

Yesterday called TOT a while later an egineer called and said there was a conflict should be ok now, I did not get it exactly his English was not great, he had me do a speed test and it was ok. (when reported was running about 6 now it was back up to around 10).

It seems to be mostly overseas sites, like local UK newspapers, banking, ebay etc either the request timeout or incomplete loaded pages.

I also have True 3G and it seems ok with this (but not tested for very long so can't say for sure) on same pc and browser.

Update: just tried again with True 3G on some sites that have not worked at all today with TOT, all ok with True 3G

Edited July 3, 2014 by alphason

[chmod777]

I don't think this is a general question of shortage of bandwidth. This isn't a browser message, but is from a proxy server through which all communication is passing to ensure we don't look at anything the junta doesn't want us to see.

Prompted by comments above, I now realise that this (I think) is only happening on newspaper websites. I've noticed it on the Wall Street Journal, Jerusalem Post, Haaretz, The Guardian. It definitely appears to be a lack of capacity in the censorship system.

I think you are on the right track - this is not an international bandwidth issue.

It is not just news websites though, it is widespread on servers not located in Thailand.

From comments on here, and my experience, many of us are suddenly seeing this on different ISPs in various locations.

I suspect your theory about the cause is close to correct, although it may not just be capacity - it could be a poorly-planned, ham-handed, meat-fisted implementation of the sort that may not be surprising. You know, the type that would block espn.com.

[Soi Dog]

I am having the same problem. Could be the junta or the world cup or sunspots. Take your pick.

[AyG]

The problem (for me at least) seems to be getting worse.

It's not just news sites. It's happening on other sites too. Had a devil of a job trying to log on to my overseas bank accounts this morning.

It's also not just affecting overseas sites - I've also had problems with The Nation and Bangkok Bank. (I'm assuming the servers are located in Thailand - I haven't checked.)

I suspect that local sites are less affected since the bandwidth from the censorship machines (which again I presume are hosted in Thailand) to the website concerned will be fetched faster, lessening the chance of timeout.

I do wonder who is controlling this censorship. Royal Thai Police? CAT? Probably not MICT since we still get the "das ist streng verboten" screen when trying to access the Daily Mail.

[cooked]

I just googled 'sex' and tried to go to the website at the top of the list.

It doesn't work properly.

I worked for local government in Switzerland for a bit and they decided to block the search word 'sex' This caused a lot of problems, plenty of words have s e x in them. (like asexual propagation of plants, eg)

[AyG]

I just googled 'sex' and tried to go to the website at the top of the list.

It doesn't work properly.

I worked for local government in Switzerland for a bit and they decided to block the search word 'sex' This caused a lot of problems, plenty of words have s e x in them. (like asexual propagation of plants, eg)

The censorship here isn't keyword based. It's based upon website name, ip address or full URL.

I'm guessing the site you're referring to is "Funny or Die". If you keep retrying you can eventually get through - it's not blocked.

[KhunBENQ]

Oops, now I have seen this problem a couple of times today

I am on ToT FTTx.

The http://www.funnyordie.com/ example brings the problem repeatedly.

If I go through ZenMate in Chrome (kind of a VPN) the site comes in an instant.

After multiple tries it is up.

So likely an issue with the network operator.

Edited July 3, 2014 by KhunBENQ

[phazey]

Dunno if this may help, but for a quick test without tinkering with software, simply add .nyud.net to the domain you want to visit.

www.thaivisa.com

becomes

www.thaivisa.com.nyud.net

[femi fan]

I've problems in the last couple of days with only sites coming from the UK, and only them, no problems from thai or other country websites.

But now i've seen this thread, i've done a test, and this is my findings:

UK newsapaper and bbc websites, unaccessible or just too slow

Australian newspaper websites unaccessible

Non-newspaper websites in UK and australia accessible as normal at usual speeds

Clearly this is an issue relating to newspapers abroad from my small test.

I wonder how long we will be denied access to foreign newspapers?? Oh well, time for a new newfast...

[samuijimmy]

After doing the Firefox in Safe mode thing, suggested by KhunBenq... I seem to be flying again..... I actually reinstalled FF and got rid of the add ons, one must have caused the problem ???

https://support.mozi...estions/1000079

Might be worth a try for those using FF....

funnyordie came up in an instant for me too! And BBC telly was very little buffering last night!

[ukinbangkok]

I get this too!! its annoying me what do i doooo???? !!

[NeverSure]

Oops, now I have seen this problem a couple of times today

I am on ToT FTTx.

The http://www.funnyordie.com/ example brings the problem repeatedly.

If I go through ZenMate in Chrome (kind of a VPN) the site comes in an instant.

After multiple tries it is up.

So likely an issue with the network operator.

That is extremely fast loading for me in the US using W7 and both Chrome and IE.