Public RPC rate limiting on testnet — observations + workaround

[Mky67]

Feedback + workaround: Public RPC rate limiting on rpc.testnet.arc.network

While building ShieldFi (a lend/borrow/stake dApp on Arc Testnet), we repeatedly hit "request limit reached" (429) errors on the default public endpoint rpc.testnet.arc.network — even during normal development and testing, not heavy load. Our Gateway/balance queries would fail intermittently, which made the app feel unreliable during demos.

Two observations:

1. There's no documented rate limit for the public endpoint that we could find — so it's hard to know what usage pattern to design around.
2. The failures were silent-ish from a UX perspective (a generic RPC error), so it took us a while to trace the root cause back to rate limiting.

How we fixed it (in case it helps others):
We switched from the public endpoint to a free dedicated RPC. Alchemy offers a free Arc Testnet endpoint (dashboard.alchemy.com → create app → Arc Testnet), and there are other alternatives already listed in Arc's own docs:

• https://rpc.blockdaemon.testnet.arc.network
• https://rpc.drpc.testnet.arc.network
• https://rpc.quicknode.testnet.arc.network

After pointing our chain config at a dedicated endpoint, the 429s disappeared entirely and the app became stable.

Suggestions:

1. Document the public endpoint's rate limit (requests per minute) so developers know when to move to a dedicated RPC.
2. Consider surfacing the dedicated-RPC alternatives more prominently in the getting-started / quickstart docs — ideally right next to the public endpoint — so new developers hit this wall less often.