Long "connecting" times seem to be getting more common...

... to the point that I'm now receiving virtually universal complaints from users.

I checked Userplane Directory during times when I couldn't get in, and chats there were working fine. I'm now assuming this is a Blendapps bandwidth issue or a Ning issue. but maybe its Userplane capping it.

The reason this is an issue is that after working hard to create a user experience that gets a constant flow of people clicking the button to go in the room, this last bottleneck loses more than half of the people trying to enter (they simply don't have the patience to wait around.) When people enter a chatroom with 10+ people they stay. When people open a slow or empty chatroom they leave.

Once you fall below the critical number of people in a room, its very hard to get things started again.That creates a lull in the conversation that is felt long beyond the duration of the connection issues.

I know it's a free service, and the ads haven't come back, which is great, but having people be able to reliably log in is better, even if there is a monthly fee.

Thanks

j. Wing