Is it just me or has this site gotten really slow? - Page 4

DNSB · 06-01-2025, 07:53 PM

When doing a trace route while having issues, they all seem to die at core??.fsn1.hetzner.com (?? has varied from 21-24) and each instance has multiple IP addresses shown for the name when I did reverse DNS lookups. I suspect that someone is DDoSing Hetzner's servers either intentionally or too many AI bots crawling their servers.

Cactus Chef · 06-02-2025, 09:13 AM

Site was okay yesterday (Sunday) at about 60k users. This morning it's fine, and I only see 6k.

Maybe the AI bots are finally done feeding and will leave us alone.

ratinox · 06-02-2025, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

When doing a trace route while having issues, they all seem to die at core??.fsn1.hetzner.com (?? has varied from 21-24) and each instance has multiple IP addresses shown for the name when I did reverse DNS lookups. I suspect that someone is DDoSing Hetzner's servers either intentionally or too many AI bots crawling their servers.

traceroute/tracepath aren't terribly useful across the wider Internet. Too many providers simply drop trace packets.

DNSB · 06-02-2025, 09:33 PM

In the case of MobileRead, I have tracerouted it many times and pretty much know what to expect. Other sites, I have notes about where the traceroute dies.

graycyn · 06-02-2025, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirtel

It often takes several seconds to load a page. Tried with three different browsers, logged in and not.

This is a recent change, a few days, I think.

Over the weekend, I lost access from my PC ENTIRELY! Used Chrome, Firefox, Brave browsers, and could not load the site AT ALL. Updated browsers, disabled extensions, rebooted computer, flushed DNS, not one thing worked.

Tried from my iPad, via Tapatalk app, Safari, and my other three browsers, no luck with that either. Searching showed the site was not down, and I could access via 5G data from my phone, but not from our WiFi. Hubby also had a try on my reques

This morning, zippo. Just now I tried again, and I'm seeing the site in Tapatalk on my iPad.

Just hope this happy state of affairs lasts. It's not a happy thing to lose access! I was wanting to update a Sigil plugin.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

WiseBooksIntl · 06-03-2025, 01:17 AM

For the past 3+ days, I was unable to access it. I tried multiple solutions on my end like switching browsers, changing DNS, using VPNs, even flushing DNS cache but nothing worked.

I assumed the issue was on my side, but surprisingly, everything started working fine today without any changes.

pdurrant · 06-03-2025, 03:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WiseBooksIntl

For the past 3+ days, I was unable to access it. I tried multiple solutions on my end like switching browsers, changing DNS, using VPNs, even flushing DNS cache but nothing worked.

I assumed the issue was on my side, but surprisingly, everything started working fine today without any changes.

MobileRead was under a DDOS attack, and the blocking of the attack IP addresses unfortunately also blocked some legitimate IP addresses too. Now fixed.

JSWolf · 06-03-2025, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by graycyn

Over the weekend, I lost access from my PC ENTIRELY! Used Chrome, Firefox, Brave browsers, and could not load the site AT ALL. Updated browsers, disabled extensions, rebooted computer, flushed DNS, not one thing worked.

Tried from my iPad, via Tapatalk app, Safari, and my other three browsers, no luck with that either. Searching showed the site was not down, and I could access via 5G data from my phone, but not from our WiFi. Hubby also had a try on my reques

This morning, zippo. Just now I tried again, and I'm seeing the site in Tapatalk on my iPad.

Just hope this happy state of affairs lasts. It's not a happy thing to lose access! I was wanting to update a Sigil plugin.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You got caught in the IP bans because of the DDoS. That's since been fixed. That's why your ISP failed and your cell service worked. Different IP.

JSWolf · 06-07-2025, 02:04 PM

11708 guests. This is where the site can start to get slow. It's acting slowish. it's not unusable, but it's get it's sputtering here and there.

DiapDealer · 06-07-2025, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

11708 guests. This is where the site can start to get slow. It's acting slowish. it's not unusable, but it's get it's sputtering here and there.

Not even close, Jon. The guest users during the DDOS attack were often in excess of 120,000. That's 10 times 12,000.

If you're experiencing sputtering, it's not due to 12,000 guests accessing the site.

JSWolf · 09-10-2025, 05:31 AM

The site has gotten really slow. I even got a timeout.

Currently Active Users: 118181 (23 members and 118158 guests) Who are these guests? How many are bots and how many are people?

pdurrant · 09-10-2025, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The site has gotten really slow. I even got a timeout.

Currently Active Users: 118181 (23 members and 118158 guests) Who are these guests? How many are bots and how many are people?

I have already raised this with Alex. I expect it's another external attack.

Situation now: Currently Active Users: 6154 (30 members and 6124 guests)

So Alex has probably managed to block the attack.

DiapDealer · 09-10-2025, 08:40 AM

Much better performance for me this morning compared to last night.

JSWolf · 09-10-2025, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I have already raised this with Alex. I expect it's another external attack.

Situation now: Currently Active Users: 6154 (30 members and 6124 guests)

So Alex has probably managed to block the attack.

The site is now running well. Thanks to Alex for fixing the problem.

pdurrant · 09-11-2025, 03:22 AM

I've heard from Alex. There seems to have been a DDOS from bots at tens of thousands of different IP addresses. It seems to have subsided a bit on its own, and Alex is tweaking firewalls as needed.

If the stats at the bottom of the Forums page shows more than (say) 20,000 guests, then it's likely that another DDOS attack is underway.

06-03-2025, 01:17 AM	#51
WiseBooksIntl Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2025 Location: Global Citizen :) Device: Kindle	I couldn't access MobileRead for 3 days For the past 3+ days, I was unable to access it. I tried multiple solutions on my end like switching browsers, changing DNS, using VPNs, even flushing DNS cache but nothing worked. I assumed the issue was on my side, but surprisingly, everything started working fine today without any changes.

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06-01-2025, 07:53 PM	#46
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 48,079 Karma: 174315300 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	When doing a trace route while having issues, they all seem to die at core??.fsn1.hetzner.com (?? has varied from 21-24) and each instance has multiple IP addresses shown for the name when I did reverse DNS lookups. I suspect that someone is DDoSing Hetzner's servers either intentionally or too many AI bots crawling their servers.

06-02-2025, 09:13 AM	#47
Cactus Chef Guru Posts: 681 Karma: 8163192 Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: East Coast, United States Device: Kobo Sage, Kobo Clara HD, Galaxy Tab S5e, Kindle 4th Gen	Site was okay yesterday (Sunday) at about 60k users. This morning it's fine, and I only see 6k. Maybe the AI bots are finally done feeding and will leave us alone.

06-02-2025, 09:33 PM	#49
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 48,079 Karma: 174315300 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	In the case of MobileRead, I have tracerouted it many times and pretty much know what to expect. Other sites, I have notes about where the traceroute dies.

06-07-2025, 02:04 PM	#54
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 80,727 Karma: 150249619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	11708 guests. This is where the site can start to get slow. It's acting slowish. it's not unusable, but it's get it's sputtering here and there.

09-10-2025, 05:31 AM	#56
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 80,727 Karma: 150249619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The site has gotten really slow. I even got a timeout. Currently Active Users: 118181 (23 members and 118158 guests) Who are these guests? How many are bots and how many are people?

09-10-2025, 08:40 AM	#58
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,880 Karma: 207000000 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Much better performance for me this morning compared to last night.

09-11-2025, 03:22 AM	#60
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 74,432 Karma: 318076944 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	I've heard from Alex. There seems to have been a DDOS from bots at tens of thousands of different IP addresses. It seems to have subsided a bit on its own, and Alex is tweaking firewalls as needed. If the stats at the bottom of the Forums page shows more than (say) 20,000 guests, then it's likely that another DDOS attack is underway.