Slow Website and 526 Error (2 problems)

[gary19]

I am pretty sure I am having 2 separate issues, but will describe them both here in case they are related.

Problem 1

I have been trying to track down why my page will take 15-25 seconds to load for the 1st time, if it has not been accessed in a short while, as little as 20 min.

After that 20 second delay the page loads fast. If you go back to it soon, it will load fast.

It is hosted on GoDaddy and uses a free Cloudflare SSL certificate.

I have DNS set for proxy and have tried clearing the Cloudflare cache. I shut off the Cache built in to Themify in case that caused a conflict. PageSpeed shows a good score.

SSL/TLS is set to Full, not Full Strict (summarized in problem 2). The Slow page load issue has been around much longer than this.

I do not understand everything that I try during troubleshooting, so steps might not make sense, but seemed logical to me.

In cPanel an area called Errors showed something to do with redirects. Not sure if this is related.

I ran a Tracecert to see if it would show re-directs and it only showed 2 jumps— and no delays. Right after running that I went to the site and it took about 17 seconds to load.

PROBLEM 2

If I set DNS to FULL STRICK, my main domain will load, but I lose my subdomain.

https://jennifer.dellazanna.com/

I get a 526 Error

It needs to be set to FULL to be able to access it.

It is currently set to FULL.

Thanks for any help/suggestions.

[AppleSlayer]

Community Tip - Fixing Error 526: Invalid SSL certificates

Error Try the suggestions in this Community Tip to help you fix Error 526: Invalid SSL certificate. Background Error 526 indicates Cloudflare is unable to successfully validate the SSL certificate on the origin web server and the SSL setting in the Cloudflare SSL/TLS app is set to Full SSL (Strict) for the website. When this happens, you’ll see “Error 526: Invalid SSL certificate”. [Dedicated SSL] Quick Fix Ideas If the origin server is configured to use a self-signed certificate, instal…

@gary19

It is currently set to FULL

I would advise Full (strict), an article is embedded below on why you should ONLY choose Full (strict)

Why you should choose Full Strict, and only Full Strict

Unencrypted & unverified connections Imagine you open Paypal and suddenly get that warning [image] Would you continue? Probably not. For decades leaders in IT security have advocated that people upgrade their sites from unencrypted HTTP to secure HTTPS. And for a reason, everything you send via an HTTP connection is sent in plain text and can be intercepted at any point between you and the server. Equally, you’d probably not proceed if you got such a warning, right? [image] That’s when th…

@gary19

https://jennifer.dellazanna.com/

Your site is slow, but does load successfully over here in the US

So let me advise that you Temporarily pause Cloudflare and see if the issue with performance is resolved!

@gary19

I lose my subdomain.

What is your subdomain that’s giving the 526 error?

[gary19]

Thanks for your help.

Responding to your question. The subdomain that gets the 526 error when set to full Strict is https://jennifer.dellazanna.com/ Cloudflare is currently set as FULL.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I checked the SSL/TLS status in cPanel.

I think I see the problem-- just not sure how to fix it.

My main domain has the Cloudflare Cert

The Subdomain has a self-signed Cert when I check it

QUESTION

Should I just delete the Cert Txt in the sub domain or do I need to cut/paste the Cert Txt from the main domain and paste it into the subdomain?

Should I copy and save the current Self-Signed just in case?

Thanks Again.

Gary DZ

[AppleSlayer]

@gary19

You should NOT use a self-signed certificate! Not only is this an extreme security risk, but Cloudflare WILL return SSL errors (such as 526)! I suspect that’s the whole cause of the issue! Instead, you should create a Cloudflare certificate instead of using a self-signed certificate! Read more at

SSL/TLS app Settings

SSL/TLS Configuration Video: This tutorial covers basic settings in the SSL/TLS app of the Cloudflare Dashboard, including SSL Mode [Off/Flexible/Full/Full (Strict)], Cloudflare Origin Certificates, ‘Always Use HTTPS’ and ‘Automatic HTTPS Rewrites’. The settings covered here can all be found by visiting Cloudflare.com, logging in, selecting the domain and choosing the SSL/TLS app. [SSL:TLS Button] SSL Modes [|717px;x331px;] Off The connection between your visitor and Cloudflare and Clou…

[gary19]

I am not sure how it changed to the self-signed Cert. This is a new problem. I did not change it. The sub-domain was working fine using Full Strict in the past.

I believe it was either blank or had the Cloudflare Cert in the subdomain in the recent past.

Question Should I just delete the Cert in the sub domain or do I need to cut/paste the Cert [Txt] from the main domain and paste it into the subdomain?

The Cloudflare Cert uses a Wild Card *.dellazanna.com, I would think that covers all sub-domains.

Thanks Again.

Gary DZ

[gary19]

I believe I figured it out…

Thanks for your help.

No idea how it switched to Self Signed Cert, but I used Update Cert and picked the Cloudflare Cert.

It took a few times before it actually saved the cert.

I was able to set it to Full Strick and reach the subdomain.

Now looking into the slow load times.