Free cPanel ssl - connection limits?

[faceman]

I wasn't sure which forum to post this in but I am experiencing issues since moving to https. Once it gets to the point I have 900-1000 on my site (going by real time stats on analytics) my site slows up despite server load and memory usage being low. It says 'establishing secure connection' for 10-20 seconds and then times out.

I don't believe this happened before I switched to https

Does free cPanel ssl that my hosts use have any limits that could cause this? Any ideas why this happens?

[keyplyr]

What does your server admin say? They would really be the best to answer questions about server performance and the way they implement HTTPS through your cPannel.

Theoretically, using HTTPS should not affect your performance as you describe. In fact, if your server is set up to support HTTP/2, using HTTPS will allow for much faster page loads.

[faceman]

The only thing they suggested was upgrading to a paid certificate or removing my advertising as apparently that could cause an issue. But my adverts load after the page loads, so I don't see how that could stop the site loading as it does. This only happens when I have 900+ online so something is restricting it.

[keyplyr]

What type of cert do you currently have installed? If you're using a wildcard cert, they may have it config'd improperly. A free cert like LetsEncrypt works perfectly, no need for a paid cert IMO.

Added...

This only happens when I have 900+ online

That sounds like a back-end issue.

[edited by: keyplyr at 12:43 pm (utc) on Feb 20, 2017]

[faceman]

"You are currently using a free SSL that is provided by cPanel".

[keyplyr]

It may be time to consider looking for a better host.

[Dimitri]

Since your host mentions removing ads (which is unrelated), it sounds like their free certificate might come with some kind of terms like "free for non commercial use" or things like that, and they are pushing you to buy a certificate.

[faceman]

I think they'd be more insistent if that was the case and doesn't explain why my site locks up at the 900 user mark with establishing secure connection and times out despite memory used and server load being really low.

[Dimitri]

And what says the log of Apache ?

Also, you can test your SSL configuration here : [ssllabs.com...] may be something is not well configured.

[faceman]

From hosts - I have checked the limits & logs in PHP-fpm & Apache - No connections was blocked or being limited
MySQL log files have no errors in and are not hitting any connection limits