Browser time issue on my phone

Phone dummy here with Samsung j3 2016.

Got a weird one.
Last few times I've used "a well known auction site " to put a last minute bid on something I've encountered a problem.
I put my bid on then hit "place bid" which then shows the "confirm bid" prompt.
I wait til about 4 seconds to confirm. I get the little circle that shows while the screen updates then the page settles back showing my bid but the clock hasn't run down. It's gone back to showing about 23 seconds and I've been outbid.

I'm not complaining about being outbid because, obviously, it's the luck of the draw but what's going on with the timing in my phone?
I asked the forum on site and they're not too helpful other than to say it's not their problem.

I recently had the usual update reminder and did the usual thing and up until now everything seemed fine with the phone. Just the one service on that one site.

Any ideas what I need to do to get this sorted?
I'm stumped.

a reply to: Tulpa

I don't think there is a problem with your phone. Also, the site is probably not to blame either. I believe it could simply be a latency problem of a slow(er) internet connection.

Are you using a cellular data connection (3g/4g?) or wifi?

a reply to: Encia22
WiFi.
I've been wondering about the same thing. It's just that I did the update thing about a week or so ago and just loosely connected that to the fact that it's about the last 3 or 4 times that it's happened.
It's a kind of formula I've used up til now with some success but the page showing 4 seconds then jumping back to 23 is the confusing part.

I'm actually waiting for an item to time-out tonight. I was going to try switching off WiFi and using data to see what happens.

Thanks for the reply.

a reply to: Tulpa

Ok, wifi should be faster than cell data, which is a longer route to the internet.

The time jump is strange and perhaps could be due to many people bidding all at once. The system would have to queue each bid, assign a time and then display it back to the bidder. Four seconds doesn't seem long enough for all that to happen and so their system resets to a default "end of auction" time, of say, 30 seconds.

In any case, I don't think that your phone's time or date synchronisation is important to the auction site. Your browser will display what the server feeds it rather than use the internal clock.

If you are using Chrome my only other suggestion could be to try a different browser like Firefox or Brave.

a reply to: Encia22
I may have just been very lucky in the past.
Was doing 7 seconds before I got all brave and cut down but that's what's most confusing. The sudden change from my usual pattern.
I can't say what happens if I just leave a bid for luck then check back later because I don't watch the clock .
Also, if something slows down and my bids not in time then my bid doesn't show up at all.


I always refresh before hitting the "place bid" button but once I've entered that page the refresh circle is no longer shown and swiping down screen doesn't work on that page either.

a reply to: Tulpa

Ok, thanks for the extra info. Let's see what happens with your bid later today.

In the meantime, maybe other members will join in with other suggestions.


Oh, one final thought. You could try clearing your browser's cache and cookies... give it a clean start before the final countdown.

a reply to: Encia22
Will do.
If it's still doing it later on when I try for the item I'm watching I'll just stop using the auction side and stick to buy it now or leave the odd little bid on stuff that's not important.

Looking on the positive side, look out for threads about time travelling and magic phones that take their user 23 seconds back into the past!!!!

Try GIXEN.COM

It's like having a free secretary back at a non existant office who stays there just to hit one button at an exact time.

lol.

The time left shown on the browser is an estimate based on the last time the page was reloaded and an estimate of the time that has passed. It is not continuously loading the time left from the auction site. Always reload the page to get a more accurate time shortly before sniping a bid.

a reply to: beyondknowledgeand Nerbot.
Thank you for the replies and information.
Not sure if I described the issue clearly enough.
I'm pretty much already doing or aware of most the above.
It's just that what was once only a slight time discrepancy seems to suddenly have expanded considerably.
I suppose if it was a wider problem there would be more people talking about it so I'm assuming it's not.

By the way; I got the item i was waiting for but had been sidetracked and forgot to switch to data.

Thanks again for the replies.

a reply to: Tulpa
Your issue is why brokerage trade companies have bought up the property closest to the stock exchange. At least in the network topology sense. To eliminate lag or latency. If you can get your trade into the system picoseconds faster than the competition then you win.
If you are serious about auction site bids, then get off wireless and do your trading on the fastest hardwired internet connection you can.

a reply to: staple

Thank you for that.
Not usually that serious about bidding really.
I'm assuming it's been noticeable because I've been doing a bit more online shopping lately. I'm sure many more are ,too, which is probably a factor.

Somehow I'd associated the time frame of the last update with this and wanted to make sure that there wasn't a simple remedy I'd overlooked or wasn't aware of.

WiFi ?
Are you using a home based router ?

a reply to: Gothmog
Sorry for the delay.

Yes. Pretty standard.
Sometimes a bit patchy but I think that's just the area.

Phone usually solid, laptop died, tablet hates everything and just used as a TV for you tube.

I think I'll have to get used to it or see if the time difference settles down to how it used to be. Im sure now that I must be wrong to connect it to the phone update. Just a time coincidence probably. These things are powered by witchcraft and magic to me.

originally posted by: Tulpa
a reply to: Gothmog
Sorry for the delay.

Yes. Pretty standard.
Sometimes a bit patchy but I think that's just the area.

Phone usually solid, laptop died, tablet hates everything and just used as a TV for you tube.

I think I'll have to get used to it or see if the time difference settles down to how it used to be. Im sure now that I must be wrong to connect it to the phone update. Just a time coincidence probably. These things are powered by witchcraft and magic to me.

Have you rebooted the router ?
Sometimes updates are pushed down that do not take effect until the router is restarted.
Especially for the WiFi side.
That can really hose up the performance.

Disclaimer : This is merely a recommendation from decades in the business.
Not responsible for anything that may happen.

Are you sure it wasn't an ad? If not, this is probably an internet problem. Check again. I'm really sorry about the outbid.

a reply to: LeonHills

I put a bid on something two weeks ago and won but no one else bid so I can't say what happened in the last few moments.
Unfortunately, I've spent all my spare fun-money so I've switched back to worrying about selling rather than buying.

I did, however, give in and finally put the eBay app on my phone instead of just using the normal online version.
Don't know if that's going to help or not.

Cheers for the reply.