Internet slow to respond

[Michael2]

Expected Behaviour:

Quick internet response time.

Actual Behaviour:

Slow response for many sites, occasionally time out.
Snappy internet when using cloudflare or ISP provided DNS servers, but things slow down when I direct the router to pi-hole.

Debug Token:

https://tricorder.pi-hole.net/nqs3h7bkg1

[jfb]

There doesn't appear to be a lot of traffic directed at the Pi-hole. This is from the pihole-FTL.log for the past 24 hours:

   -----tail of pihole-FTL.log------
   [2020-06-01 18:52:57.909 513] Imported 5 queries from the long-term database
   [2020-06-01 18:52:57.910 513]  -> Total DNS queries: 5
   [2020-06-01 18:52:57.910 513]  -> Cached DNS queries: 0
   [2020-06-01 18:52:57.910 513]  -> Forwarded DNS queries: 5
   [2020-06-01 18:52:57.910 513]  -> Blocked DNS queries: 0
   [2020-06-01 18:52:57.910 513]  -> Unknown DNS queries: 0
   [2020-06-01 18:52:57.911 513]  -> Unique domains: 3
   [2020-06-01 18:52:57.911 513]  -> Unique clients: 2
   [2020-06-01 18:52:57.911 513]  -> Known forward destinations: 1

Has the router been configured to send DNS elsewhere all of the past 24 hours?

[Michael2]

It's a fresh install, fresh OS. I was seeing the same issue on past installs.

[jfb]

How is your router configured? What DNS are offered in the LAN DHCP section.

[Michael2]

I can set IPv4 DNS servers on my router. "Obtain Automatically from MSO" currently disabled, pointing to my pi, 192.168.0.21. Ads are blocked as expected, but slow net.

If enabled, or using another DNS server, I get my fast internet back with ads.

[jfb]

From the Pi terminal, what is the output of the following commands:

time dig pi-hole.net @1.1.1.1

time dig pi-hole.net @127.0.0.1

[Michael2]

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ time dig pi-hole.net @1.1.1.1

; <<>> DiG 9.11.5-P4-5.1+deb10u1-Raspbian <<>> pi-hole.net @1.1.1.1
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 51735
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 1452
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;pi-hole.net. IN A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
pi-hole.net. 3542 IN A 192.124.249.118

;; Query time: 25 msec
;; SERVER: 1.1.1.1#53(1.1.1.1)
;; WHEN: Tue Jun 02 00:11:29 BST 2020
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 67

real 0m0.254s
user 0m0.152s
sys 0m0.060s

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ time dig pi-hole.net @127.0.0.1

; <<>> DiG 9.11.5-P4-5.1+deb10u1-Raspbian <<>> pi-hole.net @127.0.0.1
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 8304
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 1452
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;pi-hole.net. IN A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
pi-hole.net. 3515 IN A 192.124.249.118

;; Query time: 34 msec
;; SERVER: 127.0.0.1#53(127.0.0.1)
;; WHEN: Tue Jun 02 00:11:56 BST 2020
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 67

real 0m0.230s
user 0m0.125s
sys 0m0.062s

[jfb]

These results show that the reply time with the requested IP from Pi-hole is virtually identical to that from a DNS server other than Pi-hole (Pi-hole is just a bit faster).

[Michael2]

Yes, pings are typically fast. Maybe I should give some specific examples of what I am experiencing when directed to pi-hole:

Roku and Firestick take longer to load video streams, or I get a connection error.
RIF is Fun app not loading posts or comments quickly, sometimes need to refresh.
Did a product search on homedepot.com, timed out.
Xbox live not automatically signing in.
Past problems when trying to update pi-hole or add packages, "failed to get" errors IIRC.

[jfb]

@Michael2

Yes, pings are typically fast.

These are not pings. They are the times required to resolve a domain name to an IP. Once the requesting client has an IP in hand, any subsequent data traffic (including pings) is independent of Pi-hole.

These tools may help determine the cause. Find out which domains are being requested, then see what the result was for each in the query log.

How do I determine what domain an ad is coming from?

Block ads or fix broken sites This FAQ is written in the context of finding out how to block an ad that isn't blocked automatically, but the same steps can be used to troubleshoot issues with sites that don't function properly. An example is that sometimes certain payment gateways try to collect metrics on the sale, but these domains are blocked by Pi-hole, so the payment cannot be processed. Also, some links send you through several referrers and if one of them is blocked, you may land on a …

[Michael2]

Ok, thank you for the explanation.

I have spent some time looking at the queries, and just running -t and seeing what comes up. It does seem that delays correlate with blocks, but would they not be blocked every time? Eventually I get through - it's just slow or takes multiple attempts.

Edit: Been using pi-hole on/off, mostly on, the past month or so. One of my biggest pains was upgrading pi-hole to 5.0 on an older install. I kept getting errors when getting packages, took many attempts. Also tried on another pi and SD card. My blacklists are default, I assume it does not block the needed repositories.

[yubiuser]

@Michael2

Roku and Firestick take longer to load video streams, or I get a connection error.
RIF is Fun app not loading posts or comments quickly, sometimes need to refresh.

This is expected if you block something they would like to request. They might try immediately again, fail hard oder wait a bit and tray again, or just continue. Depends on the implementation.

Use the link jfb provided to figure out what has to be whitelisted in order for you to work as expected.

[Michael2]

Thank you. I've gotten a few apps sped up, and have some more whitelisting to do this weekend.