Increase the curl timeout in WordPress

wp-increase-timeout.php

<?php
/*
Copied from http://fatlabmusic.com/blog/2009/08/12/how-to-fix-wp-http-error-name-lookup-timed-out/
adjustments to wp-includes/http.php timeout values to workaround slow server responses
*/

/**
 * Filters the arguments used in an HTTP request.
 *
 * @param array  $parsed_args An array of HTTP request arguments.
 * @param string $url         The request URL.
 */
function bal_http_request_args( $parsed_args, $url ) {
	$parsed_args['timeout'] = 20;
	return $parsed_args;
}
add_filter( 'http_request_args', 'bal_http_request_args', 100, 2 );

/**
 * Fires before the cURL request is executed.
 *
 * Cookies are not currently handled by the HTTP API. This action allows
 * plugins to handle cookies themselves.
 *
 * @param resource $handle      The cURL handle returned by curl_init() (passed by reference).
 * @param array    $parsed_args The HTTP request arguments.
 * @param string   $url         The request URL.
 */
function bal_http_api_curl( $handle, $parsed_args, $url ) {
	curl_setopt( $handle, CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT, 20 );
	curl_setopt( $handle, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 20 );
}
add_action( 'http_api_curl', 'bal_http_api_curl', 100, 3 );