@realslug Hello, the 45 second delay is almost definitely a TCP timeout. This means that some firewall is blocking you. If your hosting plan is managed then you need to negotiate this with your hosting provider. If you are on an unmanaged machine (where you hold the root account), then you need to check your firewalls. In any case, this type of delay is always due to a firewall of some type.
Thank you @san for posting this link. It will be relevant after the OP manages to connect to the wallet directly.
with regards