[silvr bull]

I have had connection problems on BBO a few times, and yesterday was very bad. The connection icon at the top right of my screen dropped from the maximum of 4 bars down to 3, then to 2 and 1 and zero several times. At zero bars, my screen freezes, and I cannot enter a chat message. Once I was dropped out of a tournament but I was able to reenter soon enough to continue. While my BBO icon showed zero bars, I checked other websites and they worked normally, so I do not think this is a problem with my internet. The next time I see this situation, I will do a speed test to be sure the problem is with BBO. For now, I just want to raise the issue so others with similar problems can contribute. If anyone else has a similar problem and wants to check their internet while BBO does not connect, the speed test link below is an easy way to do so.

http://www.speedtest.net/

[silvr bull]

During play today, I watched the BBO connectivity icon and did several speed tests with 0-1 bar (low connectivity) and several more tests with 3-4 bars (high connectivity). The speed test results were similar, and several times the speed was higher with 0-1 bar than it was with 3-4 bars. My sometimes bad BBO connectivity is not caused by internet issues, but is a problem within BBO. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[scarletv]

I often see slow BBO when vugraph is running. Not only for me but more disconnections of players in tourneys too.

Sometimes the ads are spamming the site too. Maybe they have too high priority?

[StevenG]

I almost always get 4 bars, but the other evening I was getting 0 to 1. There were no connectivity problems elsewhere. I eventually realised it was a memory problem on my computer. Shutting down a couple of the memory hogs (Spotify, Thunderbird) improved things a little, but the page file was obviously still too scrambled, so I rebooted and got 4 bars on restart.

[msjennifer]

silvr bull, on 2017-March-05, 23:43, said:

I have had connection problems on BBO a few times, and yesterday was very bad. The connection icon at the top right of my screen dropped from the maximum of 4 bars down to 3, then to 2 and 1 and zero several times. At zero bars, my screen freezes, and I cannot enter a chat message. Once I was dropped out of a tournament but I was able to reenter soon enough to continue. While my BBO icon showed zero bars, I checked other websites and they worked normally, so I do not think this is a problem with my internet. The next time I see this situation, I will do a speed test to be sure the problem is with BBO. For now, I just want to raise the issue so others with similar problems can contribute. If anyone else has a similar problem and wants to check their internet while BBO does not connect, the speed test link below is an easy way to do so.

http://www.speedtest.net/

Yes.It has been the case many times with me too!

[silvr bull]

StevenG, on 2017-March-06, 05:07, said:

I almost always get 4 bars, but the other evening I was getting 0 to 1. There were no connectivity problems elsewhere. I eventually realised it was a memory problem on my computer. Shutting down a couple of the memory hogs (Spotify, Thunderbird) improved things a little, but the page file was obviously still too scrambled, so I rebooted and got 4 bars on restart.

My 6GB RAM memory was insufficient, and I had frequent low memory warnings when I had too many webpages open. Coincidentally and not related to this connection problem, I previously purchased 16GB for a memory upgrade. I installed that new 16GB RAM today, and I went to BBO to test if that would solve the connection problem. My first logon got 3 bars. My second logon was only 2 bars , so I doubt that deficient RAM would cause the connection problem, or surplus RAM would cure it. I also tested my internet speed and it was similar to when I had the connection issues. I continue to think that BBO internals are the most likely cause of connection problems. Perhaps BBO needs to upgrade the memory or speed of its servers?

[barmar]

You're in Saudi Arabia, all our servers are in the US. I don't know how good connectivity is from the Middle East to America, but that's likely to be a significant part of the problem.

[a Maverick]

Here in UK (plus similar from other countries Canada Australia turkey etc .....) there have been lots of problems ...Disconns Screen freezes Etc... because it takes so long to get back in your seat has been lost and therefore people reluctant to give way...Plus because of lack of completions you get barred from Tourneys......there have been general conplaints too about "single screen" making communication difficult ...no idea who is on line who is kibbing etc if any BBO staff are around....can only know about fiends/following???? so you left in isolation ..... I know this free but I am sure FRED would be very disappointed about the situation..
I have been trying to communicate with BBO but unless the MAGNITUDE OF THIS PROBLEM IS APPRECIATED seems no action ...was originally told " no co-incedence"

a Maverick

[661_Pete]

Perhaps, as part of the assessment of this situation, it should be established how many people are playing on smartphones, and if so, what sort of connectivity they are using?

For the record, I do all my play on a desktop hardwired to my broadband hub. Using WinXP and Firefox. I'm based in Southeast England. No problems at the moment.

However, some time ago when I was using Chrome, not Firefox, it was suggested that I disable hardware acceleration in the browser setup. I did this and there was a definite improvement.

[silvr bull]

Thanks! After the suggestion to disable hardware acceleration, I did that and my connection icon then went from 2(+/-) bars to an almost sold 4 bars. This is the best it has been in weeks! For others with Chrome who want to try it, click the three vertical dots at top right, then click settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the new window and click Show advanced settings. At the bottom of the page, un-check "Use hardware acceleration when available". Close Chrome and then restart it. I have no guess about why that would improve the connection to BBO, but it does seem to work.

[661_Pete]

silvr bull, on 2017-March-09, 05:13, said:

Thanks! After the suggestion to disable hardware acceleration, I did that and my connection icon then went from 2(+/-) bars to an almost sold 4 bars. This is the best it has been in weeks! For others with Chrome who want to try it, click the three vertical dots at top right, then click settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the new window and click Show advanced settings. At the bottom of the page, un-check "Use hardware acceleration when available". Close Chrome and then restart it. I have no guess about why that would improve the connection to BBO, but it does seem to work.

Glad you sorted it! I think that, if this workaround really does the job, it ought to be made public. A message on BBO start-up, perhaps?

[barmar]

661_Pete, on 2017-March-10, 13:18, said:

Glad you sorted it! I think that, if this workaround really does the job, it ought to be made public. A message on BBO start-up, perhaps?

It's not something that everyone needs to do. Most users get along fine.

[silvr bull]

An update: My WiFi was my connection problem, even though the WiFi worked very well for a different computer in another room. It started strong, but would fade to bad within a few minutes, and the bad WiFi caused the BBO disconnects. I connected by CAT 5 cable and all is well now. I also re-checked the box to use hardware acceleration, and that did improve the way BBO moved the cards, but it had no observable effect on my now strong BBO connection. Thanks!

[661_Pete]

barmar, on 2017-March-10, 19:21, said:

It's not something that everyone needs to do. Most users get along fine.

I disagree. Earlier today I had yet another instance. Not me - because I know how to avoid it. My partner. They dropped out in mid-hand, and another player took their place. Later ex-partner explained that they'd lost connection, but it was too late. I couldn't really ask the newcomer to step down.

This is a considerably annoyance and it disrupts the flow of play. And it happens on average almost once in every session I play in.

If there really were no solution, I'd accept this response. But it appears there is a simple solution - at least in some of the instances.

I rest my case.

[barmar]

661_Pete, on 2017-March-14, 15:44, said:

If there really were no solution, I'd accept this response. But it appears there is a simple solution - at least in some of the instances.

That's the point -- it's only needed in some instances. It would not be appropriate for us to put up a message telling everyone to do it. Turning off hardware acceleration could make things worse for other websites.

[1eyedjack]

Perhaps the solution lies in researching why hardware acceleration creates problems for this site and tweak the site software so that it doesn't

[barmar]

1eyedjack, on 2017-March-15, 00:36, said:

Perhaps the solution lies in researching why hardware acceleration creates problems for this site and tweak the site software so that it doesn't

It's probably something internal to Flash, which we're working on replacing.

[mojila]

At present it is 3:37 AM 5/8/2019. last 15 minute am trying to login but can not get BBo connected.
will try later, do not know what is the reason.

mojila

[barmar]

We were having a database problem this morning, which prevented logins. It should be OK now.

[Nethera]

Took 20 mins to log on,eventually registered & paid for a tournament then whilst waiting for the start I was bumped off. I still had wifi connection but could not log back on, My partner were then too late for the tournament despite having paid. Can I risk trying again for another tournament