Thank you Gary.
I’ll focus more on the server provider then and stop harassing the web developer. I’ve found this resource which I’ll pass on to them. It has a few server settings we can play with:
http://codex.ww.wp.xz.cn/Common_WordPress_Errors#Connection_Timed_Out
I was starting believe the web developers and think that it actually WAS the visitor’s browser. But it’s highly unlikely isn’t it?
Thanks again for your help.
Ian