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Simon Hayter
Simon Hayter
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The technical term for waiting is refereed to as time to first byte and determines the responsiveness of a web server or other network resources.

Some common reasons you might see an high time to first byte:

  • Overloaded network (normally shared hosting)
  • Misconfiguration servers
  • Distance from you and the server (geo location plays a minor role)
  • Server errors (hops)

Generally this problem is often seen in shared hosting because of the sheer amount of websites and people visiting them which of course increases the network byte time. Another possible cause is an error on the network somewhere, like a hop or because your server is not within the location of your targeted audience, for example a 'GOOD' UK server will have a lower byte time than a US server targeting users in the UK, because of the distance that the data needs to be sent and received (Normally a increase of around 100-200ms).

Maybe a time to get a new host

In the past I have to move from server to server because of the lag of the time to first byte, you may be in the situation of having to choose a new web host or upgrade your current package.

Reliable testing

Testing the speed of your website from your home broadband is very biased because it may be a problem with your broadband not responding to the website. You should test your website using multiple connections from multiple servers... I recommend web page test and running multiple tests at once from different locations and many in the targeted geo audience. This will give you a better overview of whats going on, if its first byte then I recommend you contact your web host before anything else.

Pinging and trace route the server

If you attempt to run a ping on the server the results may display or may not, ping uses ICMP rather than UDP or TCP meaning its not like querying the server on port 80 which your httpd will be running on. You could use trace route to identify any servers on the route that could be causing the first byte to increase, again... it does not query the httpd server on port 80 and if traceroute using Windows it'll use ICMP and Mac/Linux machines will use UDP. It's worth testing because its such a quick and easy thing to do but if the results come back fine, doesn't necessary mean there isn't a problem somewhere.

The technical term for waiting is refereed to as time to first byte and determines the responsiveness of a web server or other network resources.

Some common reasons you might see an high time to first byte:

  • Overloaded network (normally shared hosting)
  • Misconfiguration servers
  • Distance from you and the server (geo location plays a minor role)
  • Server errors (hops)

Generally this problem is often seen in shared hosting because of the sheer amount of websites and people visiting them which of course increases the network byte time. Another possible cause is an error on the network somewhere, like a hop or because your server is not within the location of your targeted audience, for example a 'GOOD' UK server will have a lower byte time than a US server targeting users in the UK, because of the distance that the data needs to be sent and received (Normally a increase of around 100-200ms).

Maybe a time to get a new host

In the past I have to move from server to server because of the lag of the time to first byte, you may be in the situation of having to choose a new web host or upgrade your current package.

Reliable testing

Testing the speed of your website from your home broadband is very biased because it may be a problem with your broadband not responding to the website. You should test your website using multiple connections from multiple servers... I recommend web page test and running multiple tests at once from different locations and many in the targeted geo audience. This will give you a better overview of whats going on, if its first byte then I recommend you contact your web host before anything else.

The technical term for waiting is refereed to as time to first byte and determines the responsiveness of a web server or other network resources.

Some common reasons you might see an high time to first byte:

  • Overloaded network (normally shared hosting)
  • Misconfiguration servers
  • Distance from you and the server (geo location plays a minor role)
  • Server errors (hops)

Generally this problem is often seen in shared hosting because of the sheer amount of websites and people visiting them which of course increases the network byte time. Another possible cause is an error on the network somewhere, like a hop or because your server is not within the location of your targeted audience, for example a 'GOOD' UK server will have a lower byte time than a US server targeting users in the UK, because of the distance that the data needs to be sent and received (Normally a increase of around 100-200ms).

Maybe a time to get a new host

In the past I have to move from server to server because of the lag of the time to first byte, you may be in the situation of having to choose a new web host or upgrade your current package.

Reliable testing

Testing the speed of your website from your home broadband is very biased because it may be a problem with your broadband not responding to the website. You should test your website using multiple connections from multiple servers... I recommend web page test and running multiple tests at once from different locations and many in the targeted geo audience. This will give you a better overview of whats going on, if its first byte then I recommend you contact your web host before anything else.

Pinging and trace route the server

If you attempt to run a ping on the server the results may display or may not, ping uses ICMP rather than UDP or TCP meaning its not like querying the server on port 80 which your httpd will be running on. You could use trace route to identify any servers on the route that could be causing the first byte to increase, again... it does not query the httpd server on port 80 and if traceroute using Windows it'll use ICMP and Mac/Linux machines will use UDP. It's worth testing because its such a quick and easy thing to do but if the results come back fine, doesn't necessary mean there isn't a problem somewhere.

Source Link
Simon Hayter
Simon Hayter
  • 33.1k
  • 7
  • 60
  • 119

The technical term for waiting is refereed to as time to first byte and determines the responsiveness of a web server or other network resources.

Some common reasons you might see an high time to first byte:

  • Overloaded network (normally shared hosting)
  • Misconfiguration servers
  • Distance from you and the server (geo location plays a minor role)
  • Server errors (hops)

Generally this problem is often seen in shared hosting because of the sheer amount of websites and people visiting them which of course increases the network byte time. Another possible cause is an error on the network somewhere, like a hop or because your server is not within the location of your targeted audience, for example a 'GOOD' UK server will have a lower byte time than a US server targeting users in the UK, because of the distance that the data needs to be sent and received (Normally a increase of around 100-200ms).

Maybe a time to get a new host

In the past I have to move from server to server because of the lag of the time to first byte, you may be in the situation of having to choose a new web host or upgrade your current package.

Reliable testing

Testing the speed of your website from your home broadband is very biased because it may be a problem with your broadband not responding to the website. You should test your website using multiple connections from multiple servers... I recommend web page test and running multiple tests at once from different locations and many in the targeted geo audience. This will give you a better overview of whats going on, if its first byte then I recommend you contact your web host before anything else.