Takes a long time to receive article list
[Index as: news reader trouble ; article list long delay]
Background
Lists of available articles exists on the news server, there is a list for each news group. The news reader uses the descriptive information (like Date, Subject, author) from the article list to display the list of articles.
The descriptive information for each article may average as much as 200 bytes. Often the news reader is requesting only a portion of the list, to keep information transfer to a minimum. But even so, 200 bytes per article can add up when there are many articles.
What is a "long time?"
Let's look at an example. With 200 bytes per article, a request of the article list of a group with 100 articles on the newsserver could be 20K bytes. Using a 28.8 modem connection to the Internet this could take as much as 9 seconds to complete. (Of course, slower connections would take even longer.)
A request of 1000 articles could be 200K bytes. Using a 28.8 modem connection to the Internet this could take 90 seconds to complete!
So a "long time" would be a delay that could not be due to a large number of articles and the speed of the internet connection.
Other delays indicate problems
The problem could be with
- your software, requesting information on articles which do not exist or which expired
This can confuse the server and delay processing.
- your internet connection, causing high error rates and repeated transmissions. (Which would be noticed during e-mail, WWW, and other internet activities in addition to news.)
- the news server, trying to do too many tasks at once.
Usenet RKT: (coming later!)Getting help with news reader software
Usenet RKT: Trouble with news reader software
Usenet RKT: Doesn't list all articles
Usenet RKT: Takes a long time to receive an article
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Copyright 1997, Forrest J. Cavalier III, Mib Software, INN customization and consulting