Am I the only one & would it help...

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Reading this thread about John's wearing of the green almost made me forget what I was going to post:D

Now back to topic;)

The obvious problem is the server and it is not just CC, there are a few other cruise chat boards out there that in the past never had a problem but with all the problems with CC these 2 other chat boards have also become quite busy causing them the same exact problems. So now 3 places I could go to are now giving me WSOD in one form or another. I will gladly pay if that would help but I think that they need to figure out first what it will take to fix the problem before we start sending the money.

[firefly333]

I think if there was a nominal charge, the majoity would switch to another free board. That alone might reduce some of the problems.

 

If the majority left and hardly anyone posted....doesn't that defeat the purpose of the board?? I like that lots post here.

[sail7seas]

I subscribed to World Ocean Cruise Socity for years and always looked forward when an issue arrived.

 

This past year it started to bore me......seemed to be less of interest to read in it. I let my subscription run out. Maybe I've red it for too many years and it just started to feel same old, same old.

 

[sail7seas]

If the majority left and hardly anyone posted....doesn't that defeat the purpose of the board?? I like that lots post here.

 

 

I see it the same way. If many people stopped coming and stopped posting, the Board would no longer be fun or interesting. Maybe it would work more smoothly but there would be far fewer postings.

[jtl513]

I wouldn't mind paying a fee but believe that many others would and we'd lose many posters. People want to continue for web sites to be free.

Not only would you lose many current members, but the new-member growth rate would fall drastically, as many would remain as lurkers for much longer. No doubt it would reduce the server load, but would curtail the knowledge-base dramatically in the future.

[Odd Ball]

I would never pay to use an internet chat/forum site.

 

The only thing paying would do would be to cut down on the number of people using the site.

 

In turn, the advertisers would more than likely not want to pay for their advertisements.

[dakrewser]

Something that would help CC revenue, wouldn't add costs to you and is just as accessible form Down Under as here in the Northern Hemisphere is to - from time to time - click thru the ads posted. Don't go all crazy and do 10 in a minute, but maybe every time you visit CC click thru on one that looks interesting. CC should get a payout on those...

[HeatherInFlorida]

I have had a terrible time lately trying to get on this board. Time of day makes no difference. It is so slow!!! And often the "fatal error" message. But I have been cutting and pasting my error messages and sending them to Errors@cruisecritic.com as suggested in one of the stickies.

 

I think Dave's suggestion is a good one. I doubt very much the $30/year for the newsletter has anything to do with keeping this site up and running. If so I'd be more than happy to subscribe.

 

I don't think it's money ... I think it's the massive increase in membership. The number of members on this board has grown unbelievably over the past few years. One of the hosts recently gave me the numbers and they were staggering. I would post them but I don't remember exactly so don't want to get it wrong. They just can't seem to keep up with the traffic.

 

Recently CC has made it so you have to log on to access many of the forums like Roll Calls, Floataway, etc. I don't know what the answer is, but when we go through one of these periods I just don't come on very much. It's just not worth it.

[Jade13]

I haven't had that many problems, only a few double post type issues.

 

I curious if those having issues (I haven't seen a white screen), are using cable? (or dial-up or DHL).

 

If you are using dial-up or DHL and having problems, I would suggest switching to cable.

 

(I haven't had to log-in for weeks, btw)

[jtl513]

The number of members on this board has grown unbelievably over the past few years. One of the hosts recently gave me the numbers and they were staggering. I would post them but I don't remember exactly so don't want to get it wrong.

Today's numbers from the Boards home page:

Threads: 459,370, Posts: 7,856,318, Members: 248,055

I was watching for a few days a few weeks back, and the member count was growing about 175 per day.

I curious if those having issues (I haven't seen a white screen), are using cable? (or dial-up or DHL). If you are using dial-up or DHL and having problems, I would suggest switching to cable.

Your physical connection method (DSL vs cable) has very little to do with fatal time-outs and WSODs. My DSL connection is twice as fast as many cable users, and yet I get my share of time outs.

[Aussie Gal]

I use dial up down here and I can get on and most times do not have the dreaded "white out". I do find that some Boards are quicker than others eg. Oceania is quicker and easier to get on than HAL and Princess. Obviously more members are trying to post on these two Boards compared with Oceania.

 

It is a lot easier to get on when it is the middle of the night in the U.S. which is after 6pm our time here.

 

Jennie

[HeatherInFlorida]

John, thanks!:) I'm sorry ... what I meant was the growth numbers over the past few years are what I can't remember. I think it went from something like 50,000 to 250,000. Judging from the rate you saw, that could be.

 

Imagine if every one of us just sent CC just $1.00!!!:D Or if everyone could just send me $1 ... that could solve several issues for me.

 

I definitely have a cable modem ... has nothing to do with that. Anyone who isn't having problems it's just luck. LauraS has a thread at the top of the page expressing their awareness of the issues.

 

Last couple of days have been the worst in a long time.

[jtl513]

I definitely have a cable modem ... has nothing to do with that. Anyone who isn't having problems it's just luck.

Maybe a little bit of luck, but mostly it has to do with your ISP, and how far you are from its server (number of "hops"), and how busy it is. I see you're on AOL, which uses proxy servers, so your "luck" will be degraded by that.

[Jana]

Jana -

 

Yes, I was referring to the print newsletter... I've subscribed to since I've found this site, but don't know how much (if any) goes to maintaining these boards...

 

That publication ceased over a year ago! How can you still be getting it?

 

(Am I in the twilight zone or are you? LOL!)

 

Jana

[dakrewser]

Maybe a little bit of luck, but mostly it has to do with your ISP, and how far you are from its server (number of "hops"), and how busy it is. I see you're on AOL, which uses proxy servers, so your "luck" will be degraded by that.

 

While that's true, and the source of a small part of the difference in response time folks are seeing, the major problem continues to be the amount of traffic on CC's database servers, it's seemingly broken load-balancer - and the location of the primary site for the particular thread you are accessing.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Maybe a little bit of luck, but mostly it has to do with your ISP, and how far you are from its server (number of "hops"), and how busy it is. I see you're on AOL, which uses proxy servers, so your "luck" will be degraded by that.

 

I access this board through IE as much as AOL. Every now and then I do better with IE than AOL, but rarely.

 

The issue is definitely not with my ISP. You have only to read what LauraS has written to know that the problem is with CC.

 

If it were my ISP I would have difficulty with all websites and other message boards. I don't. So .....;)

[HeatherInFlorida]

Typical example of this not being a server issue. I posted #41 and while it shows up now that I'm posting, the page wouldn't "turn over".

 

Let's see if this post brings it up:) .

[Copper10-8]

It (posting) basically sucks right now!:eek: Site is really slow also!

[jtl513]

I access this board through IE as much as AOL. Every now and then I do better with IE than AOL, but rarely.

IE is a browser, not your ISP. I assumed that AOL was your ISP because of your email address, but I know that isn't necessarily true either.

The issue is definitely not with my ISP. You have only to read what LauraS has written to know that the problem is with CC. If it were my ISP I would have difficulty with all websites and other message boards. I don't. So .....;)

No, I don't "have only to read what LauraS has written to know ..." I was a network manager for the last 5 years before I retired.

 

Yes, CC has some serious overload problems, but I was trying to tell Jade13 that it's usually not a matter of DSL vs cable. It is the total packet latency that causes timeouts, and that has as much to do with the routing from your pc to your ISP, the efficiency of your ISP, and the routing from there to the CC servers. ;)

[HeatherInFlorida]

jtl513, the reason I directed you to Laura's post was that CC acknowledges they are having problems. See Dave's post above because he also explains it. I'm not questioning your credentials ... I'm simply pointing out posts you may not have seen.

 

It's not as though there's only a few of us having a problem here. I'm a little tired of so many people blaming AOL for problems. CC advises AOL users to access CC through IE and we'll do so much better. I've tried both and there is very little difference between the two.

 

I guess I just grow tired after awhile of the buck constantly being passed down the line to someone else. And for some reason AOL takes a heck of a lot of heat. I've been with AOL for 12 years and I love it. I find IE very difficult to navigate.

 

I search the internet throughout the day. I have no problems on any site but this one ... no access problems ... no slow loading time. And I understand there are issues here, but the problem is not my server ... it's not AOL ... the problem is here.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Heather, in all honestly I find the boards quicker thru AOL than IE. I too have been using AOL for 12 years with no problems. I agree I think people often like to blame AOL but in all reality it has nothing to do with AOL.

[hammybee]

Back in the dark ages of CC, it was one of the chat rooms on AOL and back then, it was bad AOL.

 

But for right now, this moment, this board is smokin.

[jtl513]

:)

Back in the dark ages of CC, it was one of the chat rooms on AOL and back then, it was bad AOL.

 

But for right now, this moment, this board is smokin.

I've noticed that it gets decidedly better after midnight EST. But right now it's pretty darn good too!

 

I'm a little tired of so many people blaming AOL for problems. And for some reason AOL takes a heck of a lot of heat. I've been with AOL for 12 years and I love it.

Heather, in all honestly I find the boards quicker thru AOL than IE. I too have been using AOL for 12 years with no problems. I agree I think people often like to blame AOL but in all reality it has nothing to do with AOL.

My brother is still strongly defensive of AOL too. :) You should definitely stay with whatever you believe is best for you! :)

[HeatherInFlorida]

Lisa, I hear you!!! Generally I access better thru AOL, too. But yesterday there was a thread started by Kakalina about Windstar. When I tried to click on it, it took me to a thread page with no OP at all! I tried to post thinking that might bring up the original one, but that took me to an "Invalid Thread" page. So I notified CC wondering why and got a form email back linking me to a post by LauraS.

 

That post said that while there were some issues needing attention on CC and they recognized them and were working on them, it also advised me NOT to go on CC thru AOL. She posted that AOL "has a mind of its own" and IE would generally work better.

 

I have not found this to be true. And honestly sometimes I feel like I'm standing up for a friend because everyone seems to bash AOL. In converstions with Dell, they almost laugh at it. Whenever I had a problem with Adelphia, they pushed it on AOL. It just gets tiresome after awhile ...

 

I like it:) . I never have problems with it to speak of and the few issues I have are quickly resolved. I've been on CC since AOL days and never had a problem back then and I was on dial-up!!!

 

So I just don't think the problems here on CC have anything to do with AOL. JMO!!:D

[jtl513]

Lisa, I hear you!!! Generally I access better thru AOL, too.

Leaving aside the question of AOL as an ISP, if you both want to try a good, fast browser sometime, install Mozilla Firefox v2. It's free.