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I have this 1 Mb file for testing purposes (though the issue applies to any file hosted at lptoronto.com): https://lptoronto.com/sandbox/test.png

It always loads instantly in Internet Explorer (both via http and https).

In Google Chrome (currently Version 63.0.3239.132 (Official Build) (64-bit) on Windows 10) the situation is as follows.

When fetched via http, this file loads instantly without an issue.

When fetched via https, the same file takes about 40 (!) seconds to load (with very rare and irregular exceptions, when it also loads fast via https on occasion).

Chrome network monitor shows that all that 40 seconds the image is being slowly but steadily downloaded at low speed, i.e. there is nothing like waiting for server response etc.

Here's the screencast showing IE and Chrome side-by-side loading the same image: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4cUuhG1YuM

From time to time the issue disappears for a few minutes or an hour, but then re-appears again, without me doing anything on my side.

Same behavior is observed on at least one other computer - the one of my colleague (different ISP, different location).

Needless to say that I'm testing in a clean environment - cache cleared, extensions, firewall, antivirus disabled, connection verified and measured etc.

No Chrome issue whatsoever with any other website, be it http or https.

Hosting provider is yet unable to troubleshoot on their end, but they're still trying to help (it takes some time). They tried disabling mod_deflate, re-installing SSL, disabling caching rules, but to no avail.

The same issue was once observed about 2 months ago. That time I asked the hosting provider to disable SSL completely just to be able to work on my website content. When they re-enabled SSL in less than a day, the issue has gone; but now it re-appeared again, and there is no clue as to what is going on.

The bottomline:

  • issue appears only in Chrome, only with certain site, only with https
  • changing only the browser solves the issue
  • changing only the protocol (https to http) solves the issue

I honestly tried to google out anything similar, but failed to.

I would appreciate if you try the link above in the incognito Chrome window and report the load/refresh time, and of course any ideas are more than welcome.

Maus
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  • it sounds like the problem is on the server side. But anyway, there are some checks possible on the browser : see https://www.ghacks.net/2015/03/12/images-slow-down-chrome-to-a-crawl-try-this-fix/ . You also can try launching chrome with --disable-byte-range-support – Eugène Adell Jan 12 '18 at 23:37
  • try disabling SPDY support too ( --use-spdy=off ), see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12264568/how-to-disable-spdy-in-google-chrome – Eugène Adell Jan 12 '18 at 23:41
  • Thank you. At present time the issue has gone [again for some time?]. I will follow your advice as soon as it's back. – Maus Jan 13 '18 at 04:13

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