Is it just me or has this site gotten really slow? - Page 6

pdurrant · 04-24-2026, 07:02 AM

People may have seen more site slowness earlier today.

Alex tells me that there were around 1 million requests a day to the registration page by AI bots.

Most have now been blocked, so things should be OK again until the next time.

JSWolf · 04-24-2026, 03:14 PM

WOW! That is a lot of spam to hit the system.

JSWolf · 05-04-2026, 04:39 PM

The site just timed out.

One idea I just came up with it that besides IP block banning, why not limit the number of guests?

pdurrant · 05-05-2026, 02:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The site just timed out.

One idea I just came up with it that besides IP block banning, why not limit the number of guests?

DDOS doesn't rely on the connections actually succeeding and working as guests. It's the sheer volume of requests to the server that's the problem.

JSWolf · 05-05-2026, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

DDOS doesn't rely on the connections actually succeeding and working as guests. It's the sheer volume of requests to the server that's the problem.

I'm not saying it's a DDOS. It could just be the server being overloaded with too many guests.

DNSB · 05-16-2026, 10:06 PM

Currently, I'm seeing about 95K guests and a mix of 504 Gateway timeouts and 502 Bad Gateway error messages.

DNSB · 05-16-2026, 10:07 PM

Currently, I'm seeing about 95K guests and a mix of 504 Gateway timeouts and 502 Bad Gateway error messages. The site is making me think about molasses flowing uphill on a cold January day in Tuktoyaktuk.

Edit: After tossing several database errors, all seems to be working okay now.

Comfy.n · 05-16-2026, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

Currently, I'm seeing about 95K guests and a mix of 504 Gateway timeouts and 502 Bad Gateway error messages.

Same. I was hoping this was temporary due to some high demand spike, as happened other times. Now it's been like at least 16 hours I'm getting the errors.

I see the 504 error more often. Actually I'm not sure I got the 502.

pdurrant · 05-17-2026, 04:28 AM

It does look like there's another DDOS attack.

pdurrant · 05-17-2026, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It does look like there's another DDOS attack.

Alex confirms that there is an attack. He has been working on mitigating this attack (on a Sunday morning!), and hopes to have brought it under control soon.

JSWolf · 05-18-2026, 04:48 AM

The site is once again running quite slow. I think it is most likely another DDOS.

Karellen · 06-08-2026, 07:06 PM

What's been the problem with the site for the last couple of days?
It's been unreachable a lot of the time, like the last few hours.

Deskisamess · 06-08-2026, 08:18 PM

I've had a server error a couple of times today when coming to the site.

DNSB · Yesterday, 01:43 AM

I've had some slowdowns for the last couple of days. I was assuming this is the almost usual DDOS attacks.

Comfy.n · Yesterday, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karellen

What's been the problem with the site for the last couple of days?
It's been unreachable a lot of the time, like the last few hours.

It was down for at least 2 hours, yesterday.

https://www.isitdownrightnow.com/mobileread.com.html

This site was helpful to check if it was a regional problem, as it would report "down for everyone"

05-16-2026, 10:07 PM	#82
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 52,291 Karma: 180944990 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	Currently, I'm seeing about 95K guests and a mix of 504 Gateway timeouts and 502 Bad Gateway error messages. The site is making me think about molasses flowing uphill on a cold January day in Tuktoyaktuk. Edit: After tossing several database errors, all seems to be working okay now. Last edited by DNSB; 05-16-2026 at 10:40 PM.

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04-24-2026, 07:02 AM	#76
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 75,688 Karma: 320245580 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	People may have seen more site slowness earlier today. Alex tells me that there were around 1 million requests a day to the registration page by AI bots. Most have now been blocked, so things should be OK again until the next time.

04-24-2026, 03:14 PM	#77
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 83,672 Karma: 153646341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	WOW! That is a lot of spam to hit the system.

05-04-2026, 04:39 PM	#78
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 83,672 Karma: 153646341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The site just timed out. One idea I just came up with it that besides IP block banning, why not limit the number of guests?

05-16-2026, 10:06 PM	#81
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 52,291 Karma: 180944990 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	Currently, I'm seeing about 95K guests and a mix of 504 Gateway timeouts and 502 Bad Gateway error messages.

05-17-2026, 04:28 AM	#84
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 75,688 Karma: 320245580 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	It does look like there's another DDOS attack.

05-18-2026, 04:48 AM	#86
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 83,672 Karma: 153646341 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The site is once again running quite slow. I think it is most likely another DDOS.

06-08-2026, 07:06 PM	#87
Karellen Wizard Posts: 1,844 Karma: 9600930 Join Date: Sep 2021 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Libra 2	What's been the problem with the site for the last couple of days? It's been unreachable a lot of the time, like the last few hours.

06-08-2026, 08:18 PM	#88
Deskisamess Wizard Posts: 2,819 Karma: 46117477 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Ohio Device: iPhone 13 Pro, iPad mini, iPad Pro 12.9",Paperwhite 6.8", Scribe 2022	I've had a server error a couple of times today when coming to the site.

Yesterday, 01:43 AM	#89
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 52,291 Karma: 180944990 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	I've had some slowdowns for the last couple of days. I was assuming this is the almost usual DDOS attacks.