Thailand does not have 3G yet, they’re still wrangling over regulations. We do have broadband. But this latest problem started only a couple of weeks ago.
Argh, I’m trying to remember this, but I can’t hit the right search terms on Google.
You know how sometimes when you search Google for sites on vBulletin, you get that light view with a link to the full version that takes you to the thread with the template on it? Like http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/archive/index.php/t-32754.html. I know I’ve Googled and found SDMB threads with that template. Can the OP look at the site in that version?
ntucker, I removed the Share button temporarily to see if it’s causing the issue for you. Please report back with results.
We have had about 139 click-backs through the Share button (i.e. an SDMB member shares it on their social network and others click back to the SDMB from the shared link), with an average of 3-4 click-backs per-day since install, so I wouldn’t want to disable it entirely.
Let me know how the page load changes with the Share button removed.
Also note that you don’t have to buy Tapatalk. The read-only version is free.
Page loading is back to normal with the share button disabled, so I think it’s fairly safe to say it’s the culprit. Although I think it would probably be prudent to continue this experiment for a year or two just to be sure. 
And I realize tapatalk is free for read-only, but that just seems lame.
I’m seeing much faster page loads now. Thanks!
The problem seems to have been cleared up here, too. Thanks!
Curiously, this seems to have resolved the “rubicon” authentication popup that I was getting all the time, too.
The problem has returned, and with a vengeance.
A bit late to answer this, but I wasn’t saying you have 3G. Just saying that your ping is probably higher to U.S. sites since you are overseas. In other words, these HTTP requests that fly by for the average user take several seconds for you.
The correlation between that in 3G is that they have a similar problem, as it takes longer to send the requests through the air to the towers than it does over the wire, or the few feet it takes to get to your wifi router.
It is true that local sites are much quicker to load. But this problem I’ve been having with the Board is specific only to this site.
I understand that. I’m saying that it’s likely everyone is facing the same problem with this site, but people with lower pings just don’t notice. For me, for example, the difference is less than the normal rendering time. Switching browsers has a more appreciable effect.
You can tweak your web browser to allow more HTTP requests simultaneously, if you want to try that. While I understand not wanting to do it for just one site, it may make some other sites load more quickly, too. And you can always put it back if you don’t like it.
It’s the first thing I do when I get a new computer or install a new web browser.
Thanks! Will try that.
You mean like this? http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-568333.html
You can get to the index for that version by going to the bottom of a page and clicking the link Archive.
I don’t think that’s a solution for these problems though, for one thing, it doesn’t allow you to post!
Heads up to admins, etc: the gizmos and suckiness are creeping back. Now, in firefox, when I load a page, I see similar behavior to what I was seeing on my phone: the entire page loads, then it goes completely white for 5 seconds or so. During this time, I usually see that it’s waiting for “tap.rubiconproject.com” or “load.excelator.com”.
These things make your site crappy to use. Just FYI.
Not a good solution I realize, but Adblock Plus will stop those. It does seem odd that scripts for ad servers run even for members that don’t get ads. At least, rubiconproject has been mentioned as an ad server; I assume exelator is too?