Geolocation Plugin stopping page to load properly (Problem w/ GeoPlugin service)

-- HikaShop version -- : 4.4.0 (Hikashop Business)
-- Joomla version -- : 3.9.24
-- PHP version -- : 7.4
-- Browser(s) name and version -- : Firefox 84
-- Error-message(debug-mod must be tuned on) -- : none

Hi
I am experiencing a strange problem: Suddenly, (since about last week) our website took 20+ seconds to load (any page). After thorough investigation from our hoster, we found out that the cause lies in the 'Hikashop geolocation plugin'. Once disabled, the page loaded perfectly fast again, and once enabled, it takes ages again. Then, I checked the settings within the plugin: Under 'Geolocation Service', it said 'both'. After ticking 'IPInfoDB' only, it worked fine (!), and having ticked 'GeoPlugin' only, it is not loading anymore. So, there seems to be a problem with the GeoPlugin service? Do I need to enter an API key (currently empty) or is there a way to use both services again?
thanks in advance,
Chris

Hi,

When you select both, the plugin tries to use the GeoPlugin service first, and if there is an error or a timeout, it then switches to IPInfoDB.
So what you describe indicates that your server has probably been blocked by GeoPlugin.
Normally, GeoPlugin allows for 120 lookups per minute:
www.geoplugin.com/premium
So unless you're a big player, it should not be a problem to be under that as normally once the IP has been lookup, the information will be stored in the user session and not requested again.
I would recommend to keep using IPInfoDB only for now, and contact the support of GeoPlugin to check with them what happened. They should be able to tell you why your website's connection to them is timing out (it sends the request to them, but doesn't get any answer and after a certain period of time, it stops waiting for an answer and continues on).

Thanks, Nicolas, that explains it. Thanks for the super-quick help and recommendation.

We were affected by this over the last few days. I doubt our traffic is anywhere near the lookup limit but I have disabled GeoPlugin for now. Would there be a way to prevent the timeout from slowing the website load?

Hi,

I don't see how. The system has to wait for an answer from GeoPlugin to know if it's working or not.
And that waiting time is what "slows" the page loading.
Note however that this is only on the first page being loaded by the user. After that, he will be geolocated with the other service, and the page will load fast.
But turning off GeoPlugin is the easiest solution to avoid that problem.