The World Wide Web is sometimes called the World Wide WAIT because at times it seems to take forever to connect to a website. You can think of the Internet as a very, very busy highway with temporary traffic jams occurring every once in a while. Whether you have a cable modem, DSL, or a 56k modem, it doesn't matter how fast your modem is because traffic jams on the internet could still slow you down. There could be one of several things happening if you cannot log onto you favorite website.

• Slow Internet Connection: You may have a 56.6 Kbps modem, but there could be line noise or your telephone line may not support the speed of your modem. There are line limitations where if you are more than several hundred yards from a telephone central office (which is the case for most everyone) you may only get up to 48 Kbps or more only 35, 38, or 40 Kbps. If you have a cable modem, everyone shares the same "line" in your cable neighborhood and everyone may be on at the same time.

• Slow Browser: For computer users, Netscape Communicator 4.x and Netscape Navigator 4.x are notoriously slow in rendering pages that have tables in them. Graphics can also drag out the load time for regular modem connections but which should not be a problem for cable or DSL modem connections. This is where the webmaster may have to reduce the "weight" of the graphics by either removing graphics or making the graphics "lighter" by reducing the colors of the graphics while maintaining the image.

• Busy Server: The server with the website you are trying to access may simply have a lot of people accessing the website at the same time. You should try again later.

• Slow Server: The server with the website you are trying to access may be slow or that server may be connected to the web via a slow connection. I know someone who has his server at his home, but his server is connected to the web via a mere single 33.6 Kbps modem instead of a T1 or T3 line. The host for this server is on a FAST high-access line and had a recent hardware upgrade to make the computer accesses much faster.

• Hub & Router Traffic Jam: A hub or router hardware connection that links sites on the Internet may be very, very busy or overloaded with traffic. If you get a message that says the website you are trying to connect to cannot be found, this is probably the problem. Think of this as one big traffic jam on the Information Super Highway and you cannot see what is ahead of the traffic.

• Something Is Down: Part of your ISP or Online Service may be down. (I know this can be frustrating particularly when you are trying get your email.) If you are on AOL, then you know this story. Or the server you are trying to access may be down for one reason or another, such as when the server has to be brought down to do a hardware or software upgrade. Or the Internet at various points, such as at a hub, router, or backbone could be getting an upgrade which could cause your trip to be detoured along a longer path.

• Virus / Worm Attack On Internet Routers & Servers: Unfortunately, every once in a while there are malicious hacker / virus / worm attacks on the internet designed to drastically slow down or stop traffic on the internet. Some or many parts of the internet may be inaccessible at these times. These attacks could flood routers and servers causing regional and worldwide systems to be overwhelmed. It is usually temporary and may take a few hours or at worse a day or so for the traffic to return back to normal.

• Server Back-Up or Other Maintenance: It may also be difficult to log into a site because the site may be undergoing some sort of maintanence. For instance, the site may be undergoing a backup or an administrative statistical processing. Other maintanence could be occurring also to slow down or shut down visitor access.

Also keep in mind that with the Internet, you are not getting a "direct" connection as you would with a typical telephone voice connection. Whether you are using a cable modem, DSL, or a 56k dial-up modem, you go through the web's packet-switching network that the Internet is made up of, and you may be bouncing from one network connection to another network connection and from one internet backbone to another internet backbone and from router to another router etc. before arriving at a website that you are trying to access. It's a little more complicated with packet assembly and disassembly, but suffice it to say that you are bouncing around like a "ping-pong ball" on the Internet. And as a "ping-pong ball," you may bounce into a temporary traffic jam or some sort of temporary slowdown that could prolong your Internet trip. Yes, it's easy to get frustrated when you are temporarily unable to access whatever webpage or website you are looking for, but try not to get too frustrated. Just think of it as something like a "busy signal" that is temporary -- and try again later.

• Internet Traffic Report

• Webmonkey's Web 101:
  Web Can Be Slow For Any Reason
  Either the Network is Slow & Congested
  or the Actual Server for a Website is
  Heavily Loaded with Traffic

• Berst: Internet will eventually get faster

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