Yes same issues, everything freezes and can't send any messages, then reconnects and you have about 5 seconds to send a message before it disconnects again!
The exact same problem occured at the end of January last year too
After collecting data from many of the chatters who are experiencing disconnection in chat and also pending on when they try to type, it has become apparent that the common denominator is EE/BT customers.
The site developer has looked thoroughly into this matter and it is not something that is being caused by the site or it would affect all chatters.
Whatever internet censorship system EE/BT is using seems to break long-running connections.