topic Re: Very slow response from one website on Windows PC - iPad fine in Broadband & Landline

Very slow response from one website on Windows PC - iPad fine

NEILGUNN — Sun, 18 May 2025 16:07:45 GMT

Over recent weeks I have noticed that accessing one particular website from my Windows PC that I use a lot (thegvoffice.com ... IP address 104.21.64.1) has become very slow and often pages do not load without multiple refreshes.

Other useful information:

Windows up to date, cache cleared
Ethernet Connection to router (Fibre 500)
Issue is on Firefox, Edge and Chrome (all up to date)
Tried with Norton on and off
If I use the website via iPad or iPhone via the broadband connection it works fine on that website (apparently iPads route differently to Windows devices)
Tried to change DNS on PC to Google (8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4) and Cloudflare (1.1.1.1 / 1.0.0.1) - no different
Tracert indicates a slow routing with timeouts

Conclusion - there is a routing issue from my windows PC to that website as all other sites work very quickly.

I called EE CS but they were unable to assist and said it was a device issue (I am not convinced) and suggested I raised a question here.

So - I'm calling on the 'HIVE COMMUNITY' for any suggestions...

Thanks

Neil

Re: Very slow response from one website on Windows PC - iPad fine

Chris_S — Mon, 19 May 2025 09:37:48 GMT

Hi @NEILGUNN Thanks for getting in touch with us and telling us about your issue.

Are you currently running a VPN at the moment?

You mentioned that you have an Ethernet connection to your router, could you try connecting your PC via WIFI?

Chris S

Re: Very slow response from one website on Windows PC - iPad fine

NEILGUNN — Mon, 19 May 2025 16:11:42 GMT

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the reply….

I'm not running a VPN but I am considering it.

The EE CS agent had already asked me to try using the wi-fi connection from my PC to the router as well …I disconnected the Ethernet, connected to the BT router via wi-fi and the same issue was still there…all websites fine except thegvoffice.com.

I also tried one more thing….I disconnected my PC from EE completely and tethered my PC to my mobile phone which is on the 3 network (4G) …and very interesting to note that all websites fine AND thegvoffice.com was also fine.

This last test seems to indicate that it is NOT my PC with the issue but it is the routing between my PC and that specific website. I was also able (by agreement) to access the development site for thegvoffice.com from my PC via Ethernet and that site runs fine as well (different IP address)

I intend to call EE again to see if this extra information helps at all.

Thanks,

Neil

Re: Very slow response from one website on Windows PC - iPad fine

Leanne_T — Tue, 20 May 2025 07:46:22 GMT

Morning @NEILGUNN

Thanks for coming back to us with these details.

If you can get back in touch and let the team know this extra information, they will run further checks to see what may be causing this for you.

Thanks so much 🙂

Leanne.

Re: Very slow response from one website on Windows PC - iPad fine

NEILGUNN — Tue, 20 May 2025 08:05:39 GMT

Hello @Leanne_T

Thanks…I'll call EE CS again as this extra information I have about the device working fine when using the 3 mobile network vs the problem using EE broadband for the same website may be helpful to diagnose this strange problem.

Best wishes, Neil

Re: Very slow response from one website on Windows PC - iPad fine

Leanne_T — Tue, 20 May 2025 08:06:57 GMT

Let me know how you get on when you get back in touch @NEILGUNN

Leanne 🙂

Re: Very slow response from one website on Windows PC - iPad fine

NEILGUNN — Tue, 20 May 2025 17:10:39 GMT

Hello @Leanne_T

I've logged the issue with the GVO team as well (the website I use that is slow). They indicated that they had heard of a similar issue in the past regarding EE and Cloudflare. Here is the link…

https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/Broadband-Landline/CloudFlare-Throttling-Issue-FTTH/td-p/1285998

It appears that there is some ongoing issue (throttling?) between EE broadband and Cloudflare (which GVO uses) …are you able to link these issues and maybe escalate within EE?

Thanks,

Neil

Re: Very slow response from one website on Windows PC - iPad fine

Leanne_T — Wed, 21 May 2025 07:44:41 GMT

Hi there @NEILGUNN

Thanks for coming back to us.

If you contact our technical guides, they can investigate the issue and see what is needed to get this resolved for you.

Thanks 🙂

Leanne.

Re: Very slow response from one website on Windows PC - iPad fine

NEILGUNN — Sat, 24 May 2025 12:49:48 GMT

Hi Leanne

I made contact with EE Technical Guides again - they have been unable to help with this problem despite the additional information I provided.

The broadband connection was tested and performed well but they cannot help with the specific problem of network issues connecting to a particular IP address (104.21.64.1). All other websites etc are working fine. The same website, if accessed via the THREE network from my Windows PC works fine.

They have suggested that I contact CLOUDFLARE support to see if they can help. The complaint was closed and marked as 'customer not satisfied' so I can open it again if necessary.

So far I'm not making progress.

Neil

Re: Very slow response from one website on Windows PC - iPad fine

Peter_W — Sat, 24 May 2025 14:40:32 GMT

Thanks for the update on this one, @NEILGUNN.

What tests did our team get you to try when you got in contact, and when querying this with the site owners / Cloudflare, have they mentioned if any other EE broadband users have reported the same issue?

Also is it Full FIbre you're using, or Fibre to the Cabinet?

I've given this a test on my Full Fibre, and haven't noticed any issues with the site at my end.

Peter

Re: Very slow response from one website on Windows PC - iPad fine

NEILGUNN — Sat, 24 May 2025 14:49:06 GMT

Hello Peter

On this second call they did not ask me to do any tests - they just logged the tests I'd already done and ran speed checks on my broadband service (fibre to the house recently installed). The site is thegvoffice.com (there is a login needed to access the database)

1. PC to SmartHub2 (SH2) via ethernet - site requests timed out
2. PC to SH2 via wifi - site requests timed out
3. PC to site via tethered connection to a mobile on 3 - site requests worked fine

They suggested a call to CLOUDFLARE and to the team that manage the GVO application that uses the CLOUDFLARE service

I set up a CLOUDFLARE community account and asked the question and also spotted a similar ticket with request timeouts to another site that uses CLOUDFLARE when using EE/BT broadband - the suggestion was that the IPv6 settings on the SH2 might be the issue .

I checked - there are 4 settings (Hub Admin/IPv6/Config)

1. Stateless (this was what was set)
2. Stateful
3. Both
4. Off

The suggestion was turn it OFF. So I did. The site now seems to be working fine on my Windows PC via EE broadband. ....but still early days.

I am now searching to see if there any issues about switching it OFF or of 'Stateful' or 'Both' are better options.

It is all a mystery to me.

Thanks, Neil

Re: Very slow response from one website on Windows PC - iPad fine

Peter_W — Sat, 24 May 2025 14:57:22 GMT

Thanks for explaining all of that for me @NEILGUNN.

I'm glad that you've found a workaround that's doing the job for now, but it definitely makes sense to review all of the different options here.

Whilst this is really simple, as part of the tests you've tried since this issue started occurring, did you ever do a full reset on your Hub?

EE broadband has a dynamic IP, and if you leave your Hub off for a good 30 seconds or so and start it back up you should be assigned a new one.

This can rule out the option that the issues you've experienced are specifically between Cloudflare and the particular IP you were assigned at that moment.

Peter

Re: Very slow response from one website on Windows PC - iPad fine

NEILGUNN — Sat, 24 May 2025 15:09:25 GMT

Hello @Peter_W

That is a very interesting point - the SH2 may have been switched off very briefly at some point but never for as long as 30 seconds and probably not since the issue became problematic.

My next steps ....

1. Do a full reset on the SH2
2. Switch it off and leave for a few minutes and restart
3. Try the various IPv6 settings to see what happens when I try to use thegvoffice.com (which uses CLOUDFLARE services).

Thanks!

Neil

Re: Very slow response from one website on Windows PC - iPad fine

Peter_W — Sun, 25 May 2025 08:26:36 GMT

Cheers @NEILGUNN!
Keep us posted on how things go 😊

Peter

Re: Very slow response from one website on Windows PC - iPad fine

NEILGUNN — Mon, 26 May 2025 09:06:48 GMT

@Peter_W ...with IPv6 switched to 'off' on my SH2 the access to the Cloudflare served application is working much better.

I've joined a user community on the CLOUDFLARE system and it appears that others are experiencing the same issue ...it seems to be a connectivity issue between BT/EE broadband and Cloudflare from the various reports. This is the thread I'm following (one of two) ... https://community.cloudflare.com/t/uk-connectivity-problems-over-ipv6-on-bt-and-ee-networks/797407/4

I'm not sure how issues like this get flagged to EE/BT and Cloudflare tech support - hopefully if there is enough noise from the two communities they will look into it.

Thanks, Neil