What can be done about the 'page temporarily unavailable' issue on my store?

[MattSweitzer76]

This page is temporarily unavailable has been a MAJOR issue!!!!

All the excuses you guys keep giving about multiple devices, and incognito mode is unacceptable. I am getting multiple complaints from my customers about this and if it doen't get resolve I will loose my customers. These are some messages I got recently:

"Hello, since you redesigned your website, I get a message that the page unavailable at least once every visit, no matter if I use Chrome on my smartphone or Firefox on my PC. It's really frustrating especially when I try to make an order. —Tobias"

"While I love the new store layout, I have to say that the Shopify anti-DDOS protection is extraordinarily overzealous. In the space of about 20 minutes, I was blocked from visiting the next page in a category 4 times. After the first block, I deliberately slowed my browsing to a crawl, with no change. I'm referring to the 'you've made too many requests from this website' thing that blocks access for a few minutes. From what I can tell, it's based entirely on number of hits made from a given network over a period of time. The issue is that the number of hits required to trigger a block is far too low. —Nathan"

This is the message I received from you…

"I understand that a customer reached out to you regarding the error that the page is temporarily unavailable because a device from their location is sending large amounts of web requests.

This indicates that Shopify has detected unusual activity coming from the IP address and has temporarily blocked incoming traffic from it to protect the stability of your website and our platform. The customer can try accessing the platform again in a few minutes time, or from an alternative network source - like cellular data.
If you are using a service like Cloudfare, that mask all incoming traffic as single IP, this might be a reason why customers are blocked and you would have to disable the option in your own network setup."

I do not know what Cloudfare is nor do I understand anything about incoming traffic IP. All I know is that I get this same message and I'm locked out of my store usually twice a day. It has gotten tot he point I don't even do anything more the required tasks on your platform anymore. Shopify has become a frustrating nightmare!

More importantly my customers have less patience them I do. This was never an issue before the latest update and what ever you did has had an unforeseen consequence that either you didn't expect or you didn't care how it affected your customers.

The comments and fixes I have been reading on the support forums are a band-aid fix, at best, and haven't worked. I tried the incogneto mode and I still get these lock-out. I only have one computer on my network trying to access my store, unless my TV or printer are trying to ping your IP. These are things I'm trying to fight through to keep my business running but my customers don't have the same motivation. 

This "so called" fixes are telling me that it’s my customers fault for trying to shop at my store, and "they" have to try to make fixes to their devises if they want to buy from my store. If they are like me, they will find another provided that is less frustrating to deal with.

Now, if you can help me discover why this is happening and if there is something I need to change I will. If I need to change setting on my store or apps that need to be removed and reset, I will do it. I just don't understand this problem or why having this roadblock is place to begin with.

[Gift-o-the-Jab]

Hey man! @MattSweitzer76 

I'm seeing your rants and will give my 2-cents. TLDR: the issue lies with your setup - either your software, hardware, ISP...heck, it probably boils down to your ISP (T-Online?)

Here the facts:

Your issue seems to be rooted in rate-limiting - a technique used to control the amount of incoming and outgoing traffic to or from a network. Even if you don't want to agree - this is a security measure designed to prevent a single user or network from flooding the system with too many requests at once, which can slow down or crash a server, causing disruptions to the service. The Issue lies not with the receiving server - it lies with the source itself. In this case you.

The fact that both you and your customers are being frequently blocked suggests that something in your network or your customers' networks is causing a large number of requests to be sent to Shopify's and/or other servers. This could potentially be due to a number of factors such as bot traffic, web crawlers, or even specific applications on devices connected to your network.

As you've noted, the message about using a service like Cloudflare may or may not apply to your situation. Cloudflare is a content delivery network (CDN) and security service that, among other things, can mask the IP addresses of individual devices on your network. This means that all your traffic looks like it's coming from a single IP address, which could potentially trigger a platform's  rate-limiting security measures.

Conclusion: It could be more beneficial to focus on identifying what could be causing the high number of requests in your network and your customers' networks.

To troubleshoot the issue:

Check for bot traffic: You might be getting a lot of traffic from bots (software that runs automated tasks over the Internet). Bots like Google's web crawling bot, are different and don't cause problems by overloading your website with requests.

There are tools that can help you identify and block malicious bots, or you can consult with a web development or cybersecurity expert. Check the devices and applications on your network to see if any of them could be causing a high number of requests to be sent to Shopify's servers. This could include web applications, plugins, or other software.

Your ISP (T-Online??) may be able to provide insights into whether there are any unusual patterns of traffic coming from your network. They might also be able to help you troubleshoot the issue and suggest possible solutions.

If all this doesn't help, please do what everybody has been recommending - reach out to a web development or cybersecurity expert who can provide more insight on your specific situation.

[MattSweitzer76]

Again… this problem started in January. I've been running this site for 6 years. Never did I get a complaint before then. You might be right I might need to go find a developer and cybersecurity specialist and pay lost of money to them to find out what the problem is. I guess I'm wrong for thinking all the fees I pay to Shopify wouldn't be enough to keep my system functioning properly. Just please insure you let everyone know that in all your many commercials tell everyone how easy and affordable your platform is.

Regardless, of you obviously condescending position with your last comment, I need a solution that will allow my customers to shop my site. If I tell them, when they are having these issue, that its their fault or that they need to find a specialist to fix their system, I won't need Shopify anymore. My customers will just find another provider. 

I'm sorry for yet another RANT, but this is unacceptable. I only ask that you give me a real solution. Tell me how to fix my TLDR issue. Give me a step-by-step guide to trouble shoot these fixes. The constant blame on me YOUR customer is taxing.

[MattSweitzer76]

This is the latest email I go from another customer; 

"Lately every time I visit the website, I get this screen. Generally I can load the home page, click a category, and I can USUALLY look at details on one product, but clicking back, attempting to buy it, attempting to click a link to return to the homepage, loading the homepage in a fresh browser, etc., I get this."

I've hired a Shopify Web developer and he sent me this:

"

Shopify implements security measures to safeguard your online store automatically, and they do not expose direct control over the WAF settings to merchants. While you can configure certain security-related settings within your Shopify store, disabling the WAF entirely is not a supported option.

If you have specific concerns or issues related to the WAF on your Shopify store, I recommend reaching out to Shopify Support or consulting their documentation for assistance. They will be able to provide you with the most accurate and up-to-date information on managing security features on the Shopify platform
"

Can you PLEASE change my setting WAF to a much higher setting. 

As I stated before I have one device only hitting your server and I routinely get the "Page Temporary Unavailable" after 16 page searches. (roughly 3-5 Minutes of searching).  

[Jeffu · Accepted solution]

Hey Matt,

Did you find a fix for this.
We had this issue and found an app was requesting a scripts about 1000 times a minute. To see if it is a script causing large traffic requests, inspect the page in Chrome Developer tools and click on the "Network" tab.
If there is an app causing this, you'll see it requesting the same script over an over again. For us it was a "bundle" app. Let me know how you go.