Here are some notes about the BitShares testnet. I just needed a single place to keep these:
When syncing from scratch, it will seem to hang with the following message in the default log:
1753845ms th_a application.cpp:569 handle_block ] Got block: #6690000 006614d0b54c9b1d1aa4f3e9e4af9fbdf55d5b26 time: 2017-03-07T12:32:40 transaction(s): 4 latency: 76463793845 ms from: f0x irreversible: 6689981 (-19)
This is due to the testing that took place in March of 2017. Be patient. It will go through eventually.
Also, the chain id of the public testnet is 39f5e2ede1f8bc1a3a54a7914414e3779e33193f1f5693510e73cb7a87617447
If there is a problem with network latency, it can flounder when trying to catch up on blocks, especially around March of 2017. To increase the timeout, adjust this line.