Originally posted here by customwebman
Their IP pings at TTL=246
But the website navigation is like waiting for paint to dry
is this perhaps the Firewall in action?
Are you experiencing the same delays?
Have a delay here too

Smoothwall is a fine firewall for getting feet wet

Your supposition is just silly. Smoothwall is in wide use and is known to work quite well.
Could be many reasons for slowness but hey...There is always google which will net a ton
of hits on "linux firewall"