I live in a country with less than ideal Internet freedom standards and I have a suspicion that a popular publishing site is being rate limited. How can I know for sure? Is it possible to show a smoking gun?
Ask HN: How can I tell if a site is being rate limited?
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Re: Ask HN: How can I tell if a site is being rate limited?
#2You could test from vps in another country?
Re: Ask HN: How can I tell if a site is being rate limited?
#3My country used to heavily censor internet pages, do finishing attacks on Facebook, Gmail etc..
The easiest way to prove it is by using a VPN or a proxy. Check with different ISPs, also try mobile vs home.
Re: Ask HN: How can I tell if a site is being rate limited?
#4I can definitely notice an improvement in performance when I use a VPN, however it would be cool to see where things are being delayed. Is traceroute or curl something that could help here?
Re: Ask HN: How can I tell if a site is being rate limited?
#5I can definitely notice an improvement in performance when I use a VPN, however it would be cool to see where things are being delayed. Is traceroute or curl something that could help here?
Yea, if it’s faster via VPN that’s a strong hint. If you want proof you need to examine the internet between you and the site. If a VPN connection that uses a specific router to to the site is fast, your connection through that same router is slow, and you can connect to some other site through that same router and get a fast connection, then that’s a smoking gun that your connection is deliberately slowed.
That said, it’s not easy to prove it’s your country/ISP doing the slow down vs that website slowing down connections to your country.
Re: Ask HN: How can I tell if a site is being rate limited?
#6I can definitely notice an improvement in performance when I use a VPN, however it would be cool to see where things are being delayed. Is traceroute or curl something that could help here?
My company has a residential proxy network that lets you test endpoints with requests from residential broadband ISPs all over the world. Some of our customers are using our network for exactly this use case: https://packetstream.io
Re: Ask HN: How can I tell if a site is being rate limited?
#7I can definitely notice an improvement in performance when I use a VPN, however it would be cool to see where things are being delayed. Is traceroute or curl something that could help here?
its possible that your ISP has a bad peering connection. Checking with your ISP usually helps understand what is going on.
It could be the bandwidth limitation of your ISP itself.
Sites like Github are slow when accessed from few countries. It's just that their servers are located mainly in the US(afaik).
Re: Ask HN: How can I tell if a site is being rate limited?
#8I don't have personal experience using it, but I believe Ooni Probe is designed for your exact use-case:
Re: Ask HN: How can I tell if a site is being rate limited?
#9If implemented with respect to the http code, it should say 429 in the developer console.
Re: Ask HN: How can I tell if a site is being rate limited?
#10If implemented with respect to the http code, it should say 429 in the developer console.
State internet restrictions aren't implemented in the application layer.