diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f125f40..b59ab4a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -69,3 +69,9 @@ typings/
 
 # version
 .version
+
+# code generated
+status/
+
+# IDE
+.vscode/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/ethereum/ethereum-reader.ts b/src/ethereum/ethereum-reader.ts
index 0429045..ce3189f 100644
--- a/src/ethereum/ethereum-reader.ts
+++ b/src/ethereum/ethereum-reader.ts
@@ -3,9 +3,14 @@ import { Contract, PastEventOptions } from 'web3-eth-contract';
 import { toNumber, DailyStats } from '../helpers';
 import { EventName, contractByEventName, getAbiForContract } from './types';
 import pThrottle from 'p-throttle';
+import fetch from 'node-fetch';
+import https from 'https';
 
 const HTTP_TIMEOUT_SEC = 20;
 
+const subDomain =  'eth-api'
+const domain = 'orbs.network' 
+
 export type EthereumConfiguration = {
   EthereumEndpoint: string;
   EthereumRequestsPerSecondLimit: number;
@@ -14,9 +19,16 @@ export type EthereumConfiguration = {
 export class EthereumReader {
   private web3: Web3;
   private throttled?: pThrottle.ThrottledFunction<[], void>;
+  private agent: https.Agent;
+  private blockTimeSinceFail: number;
+
   public requestStats = new DailyStats();
 
   constructor(config: EthereumConfiguration) {
+    this.agent = new https.Agent({
+      maxSockets: 5,
+    });
+    this.blockTimeSinceFail = 0;
     this.web3 = new Web3(
       new Web3.providers.HttpProvider(config.EthereumEndpoint, {
         keepAlive: true,
@@ -34,7 +46,50 @@ export class EthereumReader {
     return this.web3.eth.getBlockNumber();
   }
 
+  // orbs GET api dediated to serve block time from cache
+  // for faster sync time
+  
+
+  async getBlockTime(blockNumber: number): Promise<number | null> {    
+    const url = `https://${subDomain}.${domain}/api/blocktime?block=${blockNumber}`    
+    try {
+      const res = await fetch(url, {
+        timeout: HTTP_TIMEOUT_SEC * 1000,
+        agent: this.agent,
+        headers:{
+          "x-module":"management-service"
+        }            
+      });
+      if (res.status >= 400){
+        console.error("getBlockTime fetch Error status", res.status)  
+        return null;
+      }
+      const text = await res.text();
+      const time = Number(text)
+      if(isNaN(time)){      
+        return null;
+      }      
+      return time;
+    }catch(err){
+      console.error("getBlockTime Error:", err)
+      return null;
+    }
+  }
   async getRefTime(blockNumber: number | 'latest'): Promise<number> {
+
+    // get from cache first
+    const shouldTry = (this.blockTimeSinceFail == 0 || this.blockTimeSinceFail > 5)
+    if (blockNumber !== 'latest' && shouldTry){
+      this.blockTimeSinceFail = 0;
+      const blocktime = await this.getBlockTime(blockNumber)
+      if(blocktime)
+        return blocktime
+    }
+    console.log('getBlockTime failed', blockNumber)
+    // count calls web3 provider
+    this.blockTimeSinceFail++;
+
+    // fallback to web3
     if (this.throttled) await this.throttled();
     this.requestStats.add(1);
     const block = await this.web3.eth.getBlock(blockNumber);
diff --git a/src/ethereum/event-fetcher-lookahead.ts b/src/ethereum/event-fetcher-lookahead.ts
index 599bcdc..9d423b4 100644
--- a/src/ethereum/event-fetcher-lookahead.ts
+++ b/src/ethereum/event-fetcher-lookahead.ts
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ export class LookaheadEventFetcher extends EventFetcher {
   protected autoscaleStreak = 0;
 
   static DefaultAutoscaleOptions: AutoscaleOptions = {
-    initialPageSize: 100000,
-    maxPageSize: 1000000,
+    initialPageSize: 500000,
+    maxPageSize: 5000000,
     minPageSize: 1000,
     pageGrowFactor: 2,
     pageGrowAfter: 5,