There are at least two alternative sites to Silk Road that I know of. I wont name them hehehe (goats? And unloaded?)But, SR is still the best by far. The other sites are faster too. Many of he same vendors are there as well.Cheaper prices, with less commissions. Some people make good connections there that are trustworthy. Many others get conned into sending money first and getting ripped. So,SR has a better reputation for quality vendors while the others have more vendors, but poor quality vendors. So, SR gets all the attention and userbase and many people attacking the site, many users, vendors, etc. I notice TOR software is what makes it slow. Try the site with a proxy and watch it fly. Not safe though. Very insecure using a proxy , but it does show the performance difference with and without TOR.