Do you suffer from keyboard latency in this forum?

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Jan
Jan el 15 de Abr. de 2011
Comentada: Jan el 8 de Mayo de 2019
Creating answers and questions is very tedious on my computer: Each keystroke takes between 0.8 and 1.5 seconds to appear in the input mask. Even if I use an external editor the workflow is such horribly slow, that I cannot feel it "flowing" at all.
Of course I can type a message blindly, but this increases the number of typos even further. Then editing the message is a challenge: To delete 4 characters and insert 4 new ones, I have to wait 8 seconds plus 2 additional seconds to see, if really every keystroke was processed.
Using the mouse to set the cursor yields to further problems: keyboard events and mouse events are collected in different queues.
[Key1], [move cursor by mouse click], [Key2]
results in:
[Key1], [Key2], [move cursor by mouse click]
Of course using automatic key repetition is absolutely impossible under these circumstances such that I get the ancient type-writer feeling.
I admit that I'm using an older computer for the internet access and have a 36Mbps connection only. But the only limitations I get are:
  • no files access for >500MB
  • no HD-movies
  • no Areo-look (transparent windows)
  • no bearable editing in MATLAB Answers
Am I the only one with such problems?
PS. Creating this message took 32 minutes.
  2 comentarios
Jan
Jan el 15 de Abr. de 2011
I tried to edit my question, but stopped after waiting for 2 minutes to insert:
EDITED: I'm accessing the MathWorks server from Germany using Firefox 3.6 with NoScript (disabling this does not help).
Jan
Jan el 18 de Mayo de 2012
BUMP after Walter's new answer in the wish list.

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Respuesta aceptada

Randy Souza
Randy Souza el 12 de Mayo de 2011
I'd like to reassure everyone that solving this problem is a priority for us, and we hope to have some improvements in place Real Soon Now™.
Thanks for your detailed feedback and workarounds!
(I'll be sure to update Jan when we think we've improved the situation).
  14 comentarios
Jan
Jan el 11 de Nov. de 2017
Please note that I am still waiting for information from MathWorks...
Jan
Jan el 8 de Mayo de 2019
@Randy: The keyboard latency has grown again in the last days. I'm still waiting for a message, when this problem is fixed. After 8 years I assume the source of the problem is known already.

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Más respuestas (18)

Aurelien Queffurust
Aurelien Queffurust el 15 de Abr. de 2011
I have no issue.
PS. Creating this message took 1 second. :)

the cyclist
the cyclist el 15 de Abr. de 2011
I have no noticeable keyboard latency here.
  1 comentario
Jan
Jan el 15 de Abr. de 2011
From which country do you access the MathWorks server?

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Clemens
Clemens el 15 de Abr. de 2011
Such a behaviour I experience only when working through remote desktop.
What browser are you using?
On a related matter - I immediately install NoScript and Flashblock in my browser. Using these even my old eee offers nice speed.
But I'll give this site a try on it at weekend.
  1 comentario
Jan
Jan el 15 de Abr. de 2011
I'm using NoScript already to block the forwarding of my IP address to Google-Analytics.
Btw. a German web site owner was accused for using Google-Analytics, because this conflicts with the laws for protection of privacy. I do not like that Google knows which books I'm looking for at Amazon during I'm browsing on the MathWorks pages.
I'll tried it at every time of the day (except between 3:30 to 6:30 UTC) and at every day of the week in the last 2 month. The latency disappears immediately if I disable the preview by hacking the page, or if I paste a very large text block at first, such that the auto-preview is disabled automatically.
I've asked files@mathworks to insert a method do let me disable the auto-preview manually and I'm desperately waiting for this feature. Well. I think this is the problem: I should stop waiting desperately and leave this forum.

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Sean de Wolski
Sean de Wolski el 15 de Abr. de 2011
No issues, Jan. Mac OSX running Firefox in USA (though some argue that we're actually part of Canada ;-) ).
  2 comentarios
Jan
Jan el 15 de Abr. de 2011
Cruel. And I'm convinced that Walter has no latency also: Otherwise he had to start writing his answers in 2007.
Summary: No problems in Canada, USA, Austria, and no problem of the browser.
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson el 15 de Abr. de 2011
I do get latency, but not nearly as much as Jan. The latency varies some with time of day, but often seems random.

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Matt Fig
Matt Fig el 15 de Abr. de 2011
I do have such issues, but very inconsistently. Over the last few days it has been driving me nuts. For a few weeks before that there was no problem. Yesterday it took 10 minutes to write a single sentence, that is for it to show up. I typed blindly then went and got some coffee and came back to the last word showing up.
Today it is better, no delay at all. I wish I could find the pattern!
I am using the latest Firefox and 1 Mbps connection. 36 Mbps is a way fast connection, Jan - at least in the rural areas of Idaho, USA. In fact, when I was on campus at MSU a few years back they had the fastest internet connection in the state: 20 Mbps. I could watch HD all day long on that connection with no problem....
  2 comentarios
Jan
Jan el 15 de Abr. de 2011
Walter, Matt and Jan suffer from latency, others don't. If Paulo and Matt Tearle get latency also, the pattern is clear: The server tries to get rid of the top 5 users. Or if Andrew Newel gets impeded also, the limit is 500 reputation points.
I think going paranoid is better than getting frustrated.
Matt Tearle
Matt Tearle el 15 de Abr. de 2011
Inconclusive answer from me: no lag at work, but lag at home. BUT work = TMW, so you'd kinda hope there was no lag there :). And home usually means I'm on my iPad far from the wireless router. So I wouldn't read much into that.

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Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell el 15 de Abr. de 2011
I don't experience any latency. My download speed is 10Mbps and my upload is 500kbps - isn't the latter more relevant for keyboard latency? Like Sean de, I run Firefox on MacOSX in the U.S. (all latest versions).
Jan, if 36Mbps is a slow speed where you are, what is a fast speed?
  6 comentarios
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson el 15 de Abr. de 2011
It appears that I am averaging 27-32 ms from home.
Note that www.mathworks.com is not one single server. It resolves to www.mathworks.com.edgekey.net which resolves to e218.b.akamaiedge.net . From work that resolves to 96.6.160.244 and from home that resolves to 184.29.208.244 . Akamai specializes in distributed web service; it is possible that you are getting forwarded to one with bad performance.
Jan
Jan el 19 de Abr. de 2011
@Walter: Thanks for these details. I get 38-42ms without drops for 512byte pakets to e218.b.akamaiedge.net. This is comparable to the access to other forum servers - but they do not have a live preview but need a manual trigger. I'd prefer this feature here also.

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Jennifer
Jennifer el 19 de Abr. de 2011
I too get this issue but only occasionally - no idea why this is sometimes the case and other times it is relatively easy. Could it be just down to the number of users accessing the site?
  1 comentario
Jan
Jan el 19 de Abr. de 2011
Thanks for your support. I've tried it at different times between 3:30 to 6:30 UTC, and I did not get significant differences. The problem appeared on my computer in the first week also, when the traffic was lower here.

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Oleg Komarov
Oleg Komarov el 25 de Abr. de 2011
Got latency problems on 26th of April for writing a longer-than-usual post, but really not severe as Jan's.
  1 comentario
Matt Fig
Matt Fig el 26 de Abr. de 2011
I too got latency problems today. It was horrible! It was as slow as it has ever been.

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Paulo Silva
Paulo Silva el 26 de Abr. de 2011
I notice no latency besides the one in my brain lol , the time it takes me to remember something is far greater than any possible latency :)

Jan
Jan el 11 de Mayo de 2011
- Shameless bump -
MATLAB Answers is on air for 100 days now. Congratulations! I appreciate the layout features and the (too rarely used) possibility to embed pictures. Commenting otherones answers and editing the own posts is a powerful method to improve the quality of the data base.
But the latency drives me crazy. I'm loosing too much time waiting for this GUI to process my keystrokes. The mechanism to disable the auto-preview is implemented already, but it is triggered after a huge number of keystrokes only.
I stop posting until this problem is solved. I'd apprciate it very much, if somebody could send me a message. Thanks!
  2 comentarios
Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell el 11 de Mayo de 2011
That's a big loss to this forum. I hope they solve it soon!
Jan
Jan el 12 de Mayo de 2011
Thanks, Andrew. I'm sure others will fill this gap. Until today only 1413 questions are waiting for an answer.

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Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell el 11 de Mayo de 2011
Here is an approach that I hope will make life easier for people with keyboard latency that is not too extreme. I used it to write this question.
  1. Write your answer in the MATLAB editor. Comments have '% ' infront of them; code gets the two indent spaces. You can test youranswer as you compose it.
  2. When you are ready to submit your answer,just do a global replace of '% ' by a blank, and you're in business! (Unless, of course, you happened to insert '% ' in the answer itself.)
  3. If you want to include the output to your commands, cut and paste it into the MATLAB editor.
Even without any keyboard latency, I prefer doing it this way for all but the shortest comments.
  4 comentarios
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson el 11 de Mayo de 2011
When it takes tens of minutes just to wait for the preview to catch up so that you can save the message, then that is a major impediment to participation.
Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell el 11 de Mayo de 2011
All right, all right! I deleted the first line from my answer. I still hope that my algorithm for composing answers makes someone's life easier.

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Jan
Jan el 10 de Ag. de 2011
3 weeks later after my last comment to Randy...
I gave up. Because MATLAB Answers is a valuable platform and my time is too expensive to waste it by waiting for characters to appear, I bought a faster computer. A Core2Duo 2.3GHz, 2GB, Win7-64 is enough to send some keystrokes to the TMW servers and see them appearing fluently in my browser.
Well. Forcing users to apply brute force is not a smart solution.

cr
cr el 11 de Ag. de 2011
I dont post too often, but I tried this out of curiosity. No issues. On Safari, running OSX.

Daniel Shub
Daniel Shub el 18 de Mayo de 2012
At times yes.
64-bit Linux and Firefox 32-bit Windows and Explorer

Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson el 22 de Jun. de 2012
Recently, for a month or so, it was taking me 24 seconds to fully load an Answers page in a new tab, when accessing via a 3 Gb/s connection. It also was not uncommon for me to get about 5 lines ahead in my typing, waiting for the preview to catch up. This was, it might be imagined, rather frustrating.
The 24 second load time turned out to be a problem in my graphics driver (!!)
The very long latencies for preview to catch up were somehow related to that, but only as a matter of degree: those same days, at home, I was often getting 2 or more lines ahead in plain typing.
  4 comentarios
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson el 23 de Jun. de 2012
One of the more frustrating parts waiting for typing to catch up is that for whatever reason it is not possible to switch tabs and read or type something else while it is processing. The very long times to load answers, at least I could switch tabs and read something I had started a load of at an earlier point.
Especially at home, it is not uncommon for me (i.e., several times per day) to get inexplicable delays in rendering the Answers pages at all (especially the main page) if the tab name doesn't paint within about 10 seconds then the page might take more than half an hour to load (before I give up and kill the attempt.) It is not consistent: if I middle-click several Questions (Load In New Tab), some of them might load in a small number of seconds and others might go into indefinite time.
I did encounter something identifiable today: Questions mostly painting but the Answer portion of them not, but if left for sufficiently long they would resolve. I realized that the default avatar was failing to load (the gray outline of a head.) I had that happen once before and at the time tracked it down to the fact that browser plug-in update had automatically self-installed but was waiting for a restart to finish installing. So when I noticed the picture problem today I re-started my browser, and that did seem to help (even though no browser update was waiting this time.)
So that's a number of different latency issues, some more tractable than others. But in the meantime if we could just get a method to Turn Off The Preview, that would help a lot!!
IA: the 24 second issue was my (older Dell, NVidia, Unbutu, very high speed internet) desktop at work. The graphics driver mismatch on that one was a mix of my fault and a kernel problem. The lesser problem of 2-lines ahead in typing was at home (older Mac with OS-X, basic cable modem). Work vs home resolve www.mathworks.com to different akamaiedge.net servers because work's internet cross-connection is in a different city.
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson el 23 de Jun. de 2012
I was getting nasty problems with pages not responding just a moment ago. I switch from Firefox to Safari and matters got much much better. Not completely perfect, but a huge difference.
I had restarted Firefox (and even my computer) along the way, but that did not help.
It is possible that one of my browser add-ons was causing problems (but only on this site??). I have not experimented with enabling them selectively.

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Image Analyst
Image Analyst el 18 de Mayo de 2012
I have never noticed any latency issue at all. I use Firefox and Windows 7.
  2 comentarios
Image Analyst
Image Analyst el 11 de Nov. de 2017
Now I am. Both on my home computer and work computer. And not just in Answers but in any page where there is an edit field that you type in. There was a java update a few days ago right around when this started. I wonder if it's related. Very annoying. Now there is like a 2 - 10 second lag from typing to seeing the letters. And persists after rebooting and on multiple computers and multiple web sites.
Jan
Jan el 11 de Nov. de 2017
Editada: Jan el 11 de Nov. de 2017
I have disabled Java in the web browsers for security reasons and block some sites for Java script, e.g. on adobetm.com, but allowed mathworks.com. I do no see any lag currently under Firefox 56/64bit and Windows 7.

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Jan
Jan el 11 de Jun. de 2012
Another latency problem: When I click on the "Comment this Question" button or the corresponding [Save] button, I have to wait 5 to 10 seconds until the action happens. This feels unresponsive.
I do not assume that reporting such problems is useful, because this forum is obviously not maintained anymore.
  2 comentarios
Greg Heath
Greg Heath el 13 de Jun. de 2012
In addition to the latency, several times I have lost large unfinished posts by accidentally hitting a wrong key. For both reasons I have resorted to cutting and pasting from the MATLAB editor some time ago.
Jan
Jan el 13 de Jun. de 2012
@Greg and Lucas: You and others create and edit messages in the editor or even in Word. This is a damning indictment of the usability of the interface.

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Jan
Jan el 8 de Mayo de 2019
And a new update: Today the characters appear around 1 second after I've type them. During standard typing this is more or less inconvenient, but for editing, e.g. pressing backspace until a word is deleted, this has a very low usability.
Win7/64, Firefox.

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