Proxy back on poplar - AWFUL!

Matth · 14-09-2006, 18:58

Thought performance was pretty poor today, blaming MS update load.

Then I noticed the visualroute site picked my addrss up as 62.255.83.8

Poplar proxies are back, and performing worse than ever!

kfridge · 15-09-2006, 21:35

what are poplar proxies??? just checked my IP and it shows as 62.x.x.x on the PC and yet dyndns reports back an 82.x.x.x address!?

Matth · 16-09-2006, 12:20

And back off again, thought performance was storming today

- What are (poplar) Proxies?
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d...trancache.html

The transparent proxies intercept traffic, and cache it, theoretically reducing network load while improving response on those pages which are already cached. For any page not already cached, the effect of the proxy is always negative, as it is an extra step in the chain (a "cache miss").

That's the theory.

The PRACTICE!
1. NTL's proxies are just not that good at the best of times - the old Inktomi's had one set of problems, while the newer Netapps have another.
2. The spreading of sites (by IP) across a set of 4-10 proxies, gives rise to confusing blocks of sites appearing to be down or responding poorly, when one of the proxies is malfunctioning.
3. For any sites that do not dig beyond the proxy IP, everyone in the same area is effectively on one IP - the "rapidshare" problem, among others.

Proxies CAN work, but they need to be working a hell of a lot better than they are.

kfridge · 17-09-2006, 09:07

ahhh...i knew what proxies were - just though that poplar proxies were something different!

Matth · 18-09-2006, 16:00

Poplar area, and now they are back again, awful again, at least on some sites.

I might resort to testing Google Web accelerator - don't like the idea, but if it gets me the throughput that NTL's useless proxies don't.....

Matth · 20-09-2006, 20:25

A fairly unscientific test suggests that Proxy 62.255.83.11 is having problems, while most of the others in the Poplar pool seem to be acceptable - bad luck for sites that get cache-6 - notably some (maybe all) of the www.wikia.com wiki sites.

If NTL could diagnose and substitute or rebalance automatically, then maybe their procies wouldn't have such a lousy reputation - the proxy issue is often quoted as a reason to find another ISP that either doesn't force proxy, or at lest manages without always having a proxy problem somewhere - if a route goes down, it reroutes as best it can, but if a proxy is bust, you're stuffed til they fix it.

idiot · 14-10-2006, 22:56

I spoke to NTL support and according to them there are no known problems with their proxy servers. As far as I can tell the problems I am having are proxy related.

I tried to log a fault but was told there is no fault to log.

Any ideas what to do next?

**Chris** · 14-10-2006, 23:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by idiot

I spoke to NTL support and according to them there are no known problems with their proxy servers. As far as I can tell the problems I am having are proxy related.

I tried to log a fault but was told there is no fault to log.

Any ideas what to do next?

Have you tried manually specifying an alternative NTL proxy in your internet settings? If you specify one it will override the automatic choice of your local one which may be malfunctioning.

Take your pick from the proxies listed here:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d...trancache.html

The page also has instructions for how to use them.

**Paul** · 14-10-2006, 23:00

What is the problem you actually tried to log ?

You could try manually specifying a proxy in your browser settings.

BTW, Our proxy information is here ( take note Mr T..

)

(oh ..... and your post didn't come from an ntl proxy ....

).

**Chris** · 14-10-2006, 23:03

I've had another thought - if you were so keen to unsubscribe from this forum yesterday, why are you back already? If you really can't stay away we can undelete your 'ofirgal' account.

idiot · 14-10-2006, 23:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris T

Have you tried manually specifying an alternative NTL proxy in your internet settings? If you specify one it will override the automatic choice of your local one which may be malfunctioning.

Take your pick from the proxies listed here:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d...trancache.html

The page also has instructions for how to use them.

This works sometimes, but I have to keep changing proxies and I have 3 computers here, 2 are laptops, gets very confusing. What seems to happen is that one proxy may work well for a few days, then I hit a site that just won't work, so I change the proxy address and it works, but then a few days later the same thing happens with another site.

Also, download speeds are much lower when I specify a manual proxy.

---------- Post added at 23:08 ---------- Previous post was at 23:05 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul M

What is the problem you actually tried to log ?

The problem I tried to log was that web access to many sites was very slow. I was told to use a manual proxy server. When I tried to explain why that wasn't working for me I was told that this is the only way to make it work and that there is no fault to log.

IanUK · 21-10-2006, 12:41

I've also noticed that the Poplar Proxies seem to be back, but also seem not to be back...erm..

The proxy tester here shows no proxy, the other proxy checkers I've tried also show no proxy - but speeds have dropped on some sites enormously and Rapidshare shows my ip as a Poplar proxy.

They've stealthed them !

Shame as things were much better without them, most web sites actually loaded ok then.

Matth · 23-10-2006, 21:16

Seem to be off again (though maybe just well hidden), manually cycling them shows that:

62.255.83.11 is still faulty

Sending my download manager via any of the others = full speed, via that one, about 2kB/s. Before they put them back on, that one need replacing or scrapping, 8 working proxies would deliver better results than 8 + a busted one and since they are not currently "forced", that kind of rules out load issues.

The most BASIC of diagnostics would prove the problem, or have they downsized their network management to zero?

"Use a manual proxy" - that is valid advice in ONE situation only - when the site in question has taken blocking action against abuse tallied against the default proxy.
When there is a bad proxy in the group, it needs fixing - and this is where NTL have always been far too slack... if they gave the proxies a bit more care and attention, then the proxies would not be so hated.