# Strange behaviour of board when accessed through proxy server **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 17, 2012, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974 "2012-10-17T06:03:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/1 "2012-10-17T06:03:48Z")
I’m using a public proxy - [proxymap.net](http://proxymap.net) - to access the SDMB. Oddly enough, while ATMB, Comments, SD Chicago, and the BBQ pit open just fine, the other forum pages don’t. If I can somehow get a link to the thread I want to see, that will work just fine. Is this problem only on my end? What could be causing it? ---
**Author:** ![Snerky\_Snerk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Snerky\_Snerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snerky_Snerk)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/2 "2012-10-17T08:34:39Z")
I just had a try through that site - same results as you report. I’ll go and try a few other public proxy servers and see if they work. ---
**Author:** ![Snerky\_Snerk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Snerky\_Snerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snerky_Snerk)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/3 "2012-10-17T09:02:53Z")
Ok. Just visited the SDMB through 3 random public servers. One wouldn’t even let me view the board, but the other two worked fine. It would seem it’s an issue with proxymap. Now that it’s a little clearer where the problem is, I will have a play with proxymap and see why it’s doing that. ---
**Author:** ![Snerky\_Snerk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Snerky\_Snerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snerky_Snerk)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/4 "2012-10-17T09:46:59Z")
Ok. That get’s very frustrating very quickly. No luck getting into those forums. Hopefully someone else may come along with some advice. Can you use a different server?Finchroute seems to work fine. Also Ninjacloak. Please note that these were just random public servers I found on Google. I have not verified that they meet any of your security or privacy requirements. Sorry that I couldn’t help further. Cheers Big Ears. ---
**Author:** ![Snerky\_Snerk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Snerky\_Snerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snerky_Snerk)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/5 "2012-10-17T10:02:22Z")
Sorry for posting 4 times in a row. Those proxy servers muddled their own addresses when I saved them. Sorry. Try again… [http://www.finchroute.co.uk](http://www.finchroute.co.uk) [http://www.ninjacloak.com](http://www.ninjacloak.com) ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/6 "2012-10-17T12:08:53Z")
Thanks a lot for the help! I’ll switch proxy servers. I don’t really have any security/privacy requirements as such, I was just getting around self imposed productivity software :smack: Any hypotheses as to why this would be happening? I was confused at the behaviour. ---
**Author:** ![Snerky\_Snerk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Snerky\_Snerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snerky_Snerk)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/7 "2012-10-17T13:11:13Z")
Ok. Keep in mind I’m an idiot and know nothing about computers. So I went back through proxynet and adjusted my settings in the SDMB User CP to display threads for the last year. After doing that, I couldn’t access any forums at all. Then I went back to User CP and dropped it back to only display threads from yesterday. After that, I could access most forums except GQ. So, based on that it seems it’s related to how many threads will show in the forum when you open it. If too many threads try to display, it just has a hissy fit and displays nothing. If you want to fiddle with your User CP, you might be able to find the exact number of threads that proxynet can handle. I have no idea why this is happening though. Thank you and goodnight. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/8 "2012-10-17T18:21:51Z")
Thanks for all the effort you put into this. Now if only someone will venture an explanation as to why a large number of threads are beyond the proxy’s ability to handle, I can put this intellectual itch to rest. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Dord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@The\_Dord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Dord)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/9 "2012-10-17T20:39:20Z")
An honest question… Why do you need to be behind a proxy while on this board? ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/10 "2012-10-17T21:15:35Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > Thanks for all the effort you put into this. Now if only someone will venture an explanation as to why a large number of threads are beyond the proxy’s ability to handle, I can put this intellectual itch to rest. The people who run the proxy don’t want to give you unlimited bandwidth. They may throttle you on the basis of “how much is the page you just requested claiming it’s going to take?”, since part of the response to a “GET” request is “here’s how much data I’m about to send.” If more than _x_, for whatever value of _x_ they’ve chosen, you ain’t getting that page. That’s just a WAG, though. There may be a) a better answer, or b) someone out there who actually knows why _that specific_ proxy server is refusing your page requests. Or c) I could be entirely full of shit. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/11 "2012-10-17T21:20:26Z")
There is a lot of illegal activity that routes through proxies. It’s quite possible they limit the size of a gettable webpage because it prevents people from downloading child pornography photos &etc through them. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/12 "2012-10-18T00:51:18Z")
> [@The\_Dord](#): > > An honest question.. Why do you need to be behind a proxy while on this board? He said: > [@bldysabba](#): > > Thanks a lot for the help! I’ll switch proxy servers. I don’t really have any security/privacy requirements as such, I was just getting around self imposed productivity software :smack: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Dord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@The\_Dord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Dord)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/13 "2012-10-18T00:53:35Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > He said: I skipped over that bit, for a moment I thought it was for more nefarious message board activities! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/14 "2012-10-18T06:10:13Z")
> [@The\_Dord](#): > > … nefarious message board activities! Yeah, he’s your sock… 😉 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/15 "2012-10-18T06:18:06Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > There is a lot of illegal activity that routes through proxies. It’s quite possible they limit the size of a gettable webpage because it prevents people from downloading child pornography photos &etc through them. The Multi-quote button doesn’t work either, so **Cheshire Human** , this response is also addressed to you. The proxy loads websites with images and sometimes even videos (yes, my productivity hasn’t experienced a significant bump). This makes me think the size explanation is unlikely to be correct, unless there is something idiosyncratic about how the proxy handles web page size. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/16 "2012-10-18T06:43:39Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > The Multi-quote button doesn’t work either, so **Cheshire Human** , this response is also addressed to you. The proxy loads websites with images and sometimes even videos (yes, my productivity hasn’t experienced a significant bump). This makes me think the size explanation is unlikely to be correct, unless there is something idiosyncratic about how the proxy handles web page size. Well, I can tell you that Multiquote doesn’t work because your proxy is disabling JavaScript. I’ve disabled that before, and it breaks. I don’t know why they don’t just replace it with a standard checkmark system. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/17 "2012-10-18T16:14:53Z")
Don’t know why, but I have a guess: When you request a page of Dope, the Dope server quirys the board database, and finds all the threads that fit the quiry filters, (forum, age, posters you have on ignore, etc.) then dynamically generates a web page to display them to you. That takes time. My guess is that if it takes too much time, then the proxy server times out waiting for a response. The board software probably caches the more common requests, so they get a quick response. Less common requests take longer, and the proxy server times out. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-behaviour-of-board-when-accessed-through-proxy-server/637974/18 "2012-10-18T16:34:00Z")
Nitpick: _queries_ and _query_.