diff --git a/rhodecode/authentication/__init__.py b/rhodecode/authentication/__init__.py
--- a/rhodecode/authentication/__init__.py
+++ b/rhodecode/authentication/__init__.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 # Plugin ID prefixes to distinct between normal and legacy plugins.
 plugin_prefix = 'egg:'
 legacy_plugin_prefix = 'py:'
+plugin_default_auth_ttl = 30
 
 
 # TODO: Currently this is only used to discover the authentication plugins.
diff --git a/rhodecode/authentication/base.py b/rhodecode/authentication/base.py
--- a/rhodecode/authentication/base.py
+++ b/rhodecode/authentication/base.py
@@ -439,7 +439,11 @@ class RhodeCodeAuthPluginBase(object):
 
     def get_ttl_cache(self, settings=None):
         plugin_settings = settings or self.get_settings()
-        cache_ttl = 0
+        # we set default to 30, we make a compromise here,
+        # performance > security, mostly due to LDAP/SVN, majority
+        # of users pick cache_ttl to be enabled
+        from rhodecode.authentication import plugin_default_auth_ttl
+        cache_ttl = plugin_default_auth_ttl
 
         if isinstance(self.AUTH_CACHE_TTL, (int, long)):
             # plugin cache set inside is more important than the settings value
diff --git a/rhodecode/authentication/schema.py b/rhodecode/authentication/schema.py
--- a/rhodecode/authentication/schema.py
+++ b/rhodecode/authentication/schema.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 import colander
 
+from rhodecode.authentication import plugin_default_auth_ttl
 from rhodecode.translation import _
 
 
@@ -39,7 +40,7 @@ class AuthnPluginSettingsSchemaBase(cola
     )
     cache_ttl = colander.SchemaNode(
         colander.Int(),
-        default=0,
+        default=plugin_default_auth_ttl,
         description=_('Amount of seconds to cache the authentication and '
                       'permissions check response call for this plugin. \n'
                       'Useful for expensive calls like LDAP to improve the '
diff --git a/rhodecode/authentication/tests/conftest.py b/rhodecode/authentication/tests/conftest.py
--- a/rhodecode/authentication/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/rhodecode/authentication/tests/conftest.py
@@ -30,10 +30,7 @@ class EnabledAuthPlugin(object):
     """
 
     def __init__(self, plugin):
-        self.new_value = set([
-            'egg:rhodecode-enterprise-ce#rhodecode',
-            plugin.get_id()
-        ])
+        self.new_value = {'egg:rhodecode-enterprise-ce#rhodecode', plugin.get_id()}
 
     def __enter__(self):
         from rhodecode.model.settings import SettingsModel
@@ -47,7 +44,7 @@ class EnabledAuthPlugin(object):
             'auth_plugins', ','.join(self._old_value))
 
 
-class DisabledAuthPlugin():
+class DisabledAuthPlugin(object):
     """
     Context manager that updates the 'auth_plugins' setting in DB to disable
     a plugin. Previous setting is restored on exit.
diff --git a/rhodecode/config/environment.py b/rhodecode/config/environment.py
--- a/rhodecode/config/environment.py
+++ b/rhodecode/config/environment.py
@@ -18,12 +18,10 @@
 # RhodeCode Enterprise Edition, including its added features, Support services,
 # and proprietary license terms, please see https://rhodecode.com/licenses/
 
-
 import os
 import logging
 import rhodecode
 
-
 from rhodecode.config import utils
 
 from rhodecode.lib.utils import load_rcextensions
@@ -52,6 +50,8 @@ def load_pyramid_environment(global_conf
     if settings['is_test']:
         rhodecode.is_test = True
         rhodecode.disable_error_handler = True
+        from rhodecode import authentication
+        authentication.plugin_default_auth_ttl = 0
 
         utils.initialize_test_environment(settings_merged)