> If connecting to a server seems to sit there for a few seconds not doing anything, try adding this line to your config:
> GSSAPIAuthentication no
> And if that works, ask the server’s sys-admin to disable it in the server config, for the benefit of all users ‒ exactly the same line as above, but in /etc/ssh/sshd_config.
It would be nice if they described what this actually did - I'm hesitant to run options off, especially ones related to authentication.
It turns GSSAPI [1] off, which is typically used with Kerberos. Unless you know you're using it (and in most cases you will know if you are), it's safe to turn it off.
The other really common case with delayed connections is that the sshd is waiting on a timeout while it tries to look up the rdns for your connecting IP.
UseDNS no # disable rdns lookups in sshd logs. See man sshd_config
There's a possible security benefit to having it enabled, in that it'll try to resolve your rdns, and then confirm your forward dns matches it, but I'm not sure how much of a benefit that is, in practice.
It would be nice if they described what this actually did - I'm hesitant to run options off, especially ones related to authentication.