topic Re: Intermittent connection issues loading/changing site- secure connection failed/site can't be rea in Broadband

Intermittent connection issues loading/changing site- secure connection failed/site can't be reached

EDIflyer — Sun, 22 Oct 2023 14:21:49 GMT

Is anyone else occasionally getting a 'connection down' error from Chrome (or 'Secure Connection Failed' from Firefox) when changing page - if I hit refresh it works fine. At first I wondered if it was the site I was using but have noticed it on multiple different major websites over the past couple of months and not noticed it from other locations where I don't use Three Broadband so does seem to be related to the router/connection (this is via wired Ethernet too, so not a WiFi problem). I've tried changing DNS server in case that helps but no difference.

It mainly seems to happen when trying to first load a site or (annoyingly) at checkout when a different site is being loaded as part of the checkout process. It certainly doesn't happen everytime but does happen with reasonable frequency. I've also noticed I often get it when trying to pull/push from/to Github too and have to do so a number of times for it to work (browsing the Github website works fine).

I'm using a NR5103E with Firmware Version V1.00(ACBJ.0)b14 - I tried rebooting it but to no effect.

Secure Connection Failed

tucu — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 10:39:42 GMT

Hi All --

I've been using Home Broadband with a NR5103E router for less than 2 weeks and I'm having some issues.

From time to time, I'll get the error below in Firefox (also happens in Chrome but it retries automatically). For general browsing it is mostly annoying but I can live with that. However, it gets really frustrating when running servers locally that can't connect to remote services.

Things I've tried already:
- splitting 2.4 and 5
- connecting a separate router via cable
- using Google's DNS servers

Secure Connection Failed
An error occurred during a connection to www.skyscanner.net. PR_END_OF_FILE_ERROR
Error code: PR_END_OF_FILE_ERROR
The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified. Please contact the web site owners to inform them of this problem.

Has anyone experienced this? Any ideas on what I could try?

Many thanks in advance!

ps: Current Firmware Version: V1.00(ACBJ.0)b14

Re: Intermittent connection issues loading/changing site- secure connection failed/site can't be rea

tucu — Mon, 23 Oct 2023 09:08:31 GMT

I posted about this exact same problem here. It's actually worse in Firefox, sometimes Chrome will retry the request automatically. Same router, same version. Couldn't find a solution yet.

Re: Intermittent connection issues loading/changing site- secure connection failed/site can't be rea

EDIflyer — Mon, 23 Oct 2023 10:17:55 GMT

Ah, OK - hadn't spotted your post! Disappointing no reply yet - hopefully someone from Three will take a look soon.

Out of interest, on the ISPReview thread (where I also posted) someone suggested using a VPN - I tried a Wireguard connection I had and it massively improving things, might be worth you trying that too? They're wondering if Three are undertaking some sort of deep packet inspection that is causing issues.

Re: Intermittent connection issues loading/changing site- secure connection failed/site can't be rea

JonathanB — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 16:55:52 GMT

Hi @EDIflyer @tucu,

It's not an issue that I'm familiar with off hand. I do wonder if the router is significant or not.

Are either of you able to confirm if the issue happens on a Three mobile SIM? Any compatible phone you can test the router SIM in too?

This may help us narrow down if it's a Three Broadband, device specific, or general issue.

Thanks,
Jonathan

Re: Intermittent connection issues loading/changing site- secure connection failed/site can't be rea

EDIflyer — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 17:01:23 GMT

Thanks for the reply, Jonathan. I'm on iD Mobile and I've not noticed it on my phone when on the mobile network, only when connected to my Three Broadband router. I've also not seen it at other locations with my laptop so it does seem to be a router issue. I must confess I don't recall experiencing when I first got Three about 4-5 months ago, I'm not sure if anything changed in the update a couple of months ago? The way it stops happening with the VPN is also really interesting. It's also not Windows-specific as I've got a Pi 4 on the network running Home Assistant and it has been having issues doing updates - I've then realised if I keep just going 'retry' it works, a bit similar when connecting to Github!

Re: Secure Connection Failed

elkolesio — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 18:20:58 GMT

I am experiencing it all the time, especially in the evening when I am using the internet at home most. Sometimes I need to force the refresh 3,4 times before the page loads up correctly.

I'm concidering leaving and switching to another broadband. I was very excited when I got this one but the constant error starts to testing my patience.

I live very close to the 5G masts and once the connection is established the internet is blazing fast, but it needs that push and plenty of services keep breaking because of that connection issue.

Re: Secure Connection Failed

EDIflyer — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 19:36:50 GMT

@elkolesio thanks for posting, good to know that @tucu and I aren't alone!

We've also been discussing this in a thread that I started - https://community.three.co.uk/t5/Broadband/Intermittent-connection-issues-loading-changing-site-secure-connection-failed-site-can-t-be-reached/m-p/20464

@JonathanB would you be able to merge the two thread?

@elkolesio would you be able to try connecting via a VPN and see if that helps? It made a significant difference for me and might help troubleshooting. Also are you on LAN or Wi-Fi? (I've seen in on both but might still be interesting to know).

Re: Intermittent connection issues loading/changing site- secure connection failed/site can't be rea

tucu — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 12:13:34 GMT

Agree with @EDIflyer -- issue stops when using a VPN (I'm using Mozilla VPN). I wonder if it's related to the latest firmware? I'm using Mac, FWIW..

Re: Secure Connection Failed

tucu — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 12:17:12 GMT

I've stopped using it in the evenings - the speeds drop significantly. I am too at odds whether to keep it or not, as I was looking for an alternative to my regular provider which for now is A LOT more reliable. VPN helps, but I can't use with chromecast, for instance..

Re: Secure Connection Failed

tucu — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 12:19:25 GMT

LAN made no difference at all in my tests. I've tried that, splitting the 2.4 and 5ghz bands, disabling one, etc, etc.

Re: Intermittent connection issues loading/changing site- secure connection failed/site can't be rea

JonathanB — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 13:02:38 GMT

There have been a couple of issues reported relating to our IPv6 rollout, which was the most significant change on the last firmware version. It was interfering with some VPNs, and some devices connecting to the router.

includes a bit more info and a couple of users have documented how to change the APN profile to manual and to set up IPv4 only. So it may be worth a check if this still happens when the router is set to the older IPv4 only set up.

Re: Secure Connection Failed

JonathanB — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 16:30:09 GMT

Yeah best to keep one topic when it's the same issue. @tucu thanks for spotting this first. I've made the more recent thread by @EDIflyer the main one, just for visibility more than anything else as yours has sunk down the list a little.

Re: Intermittent connection issues loading/changing site- secure connection failed/site can't be rea

applepieman — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 18:10:35 GMT

Same firmware same modem same problems here too. I work from home and this is causing a few issues, can it be looked into asap clearly an issue.

Re: Intermittent connection issues loading/changing site- secure connection failed/site can't be rea

EDIflyer — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 21:23:28 GMT

Thanks @JonathanB - I've had a look at that thread and tried switching the APN profile to manual but no change - still lots of errors (examples below)...

- OpenSSL SSL_connect: SSL_ERROR_SYSCALL in connection to github.com:443

- "Head "https://ghcr.io/v2/home-assistant/raspberrypi4-homeassistant/manifests/2023.10.5": Get "https://ghcr.io/token?scope=repository%3Ahome-assistant%2Fraspberrypi4-homeassistant%3Apull&service=ghcr.io": EOF"

- aiohttp.client_exceptions.ClientConnectorError: Cannot connect to host portal-ww.ecouser.net:443 ssl:True [None]

Re: Intermittent connection issues loading/changing site- secure connection failed/site can't be rea

AlSeek — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 23:55:02 GMT

Hello all. Likewise experiencing the same issue here.

I have been a three home broadband customer since April and have somewhat recently within the last maybe two months started experiencing this error. It is getting very frustrating as it seems to be occurring very frequently and more frequently than when it started.

I have a NR5103E routher with Firmware Version V1.00(ACBJ.0)b14.

It is certainly either a router issue or Three network issue, as I've experienced it on multiple devices (Linux, Android and Windows affected) both wifi and ethernet cable connected, and the same devices on other networks have never exhibited the error.

I've tried changing various settings on the router, like DNS, DOS Protection; but to no effect.

Re: Intermittent connection issues loading/changing site- secure connection failed/site can't be rea

Tatablack — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 16:12:04 GMT

I'm in the same situation (NR5103E, firmware V1.00(ACBJ.0)b14).

I've also seen the same intermittent errors for a few months. Initially I thought it was the browser (I was using Firefox; as someone mentioned, Chrome does some retrying and the problem is less obvious). Then I realised it happened on the command line and in other apps as well.

I believe it's the same issue mentioned here:

https://community.three.co.uk/t5/Broadband/Three-5g-broadband-random-request-connection-issues-parental-controls/td-p/18189/page/2

In that thread, the OP mentions that switching to 4G fixes the issue. I can report it works for me as well, though of course it cannot be a long-term solution.

While on 5G, the "Cellular Info" section in my router's UI reports NR5G-NSA as Access Technology, and a RSSI of -89.

I'm using the following one-liner to test; it uses Curl to connect to github.com 10 times, ignoring the output but printing any errors. I'm attaching a screenshot of its sample output.

for i in {1..10}; do curl -I --no-progress-meter -o /dev/null https://github.com || true; done;

3 failures out of 10 connection attempts

Re: Intermittent connection issues loading/changing site- secure connection failed/site can't be rea

applepieman — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 02:05:43 GMT

So is anyone looking into this Three?

Re: Intermittent connection issues loading/changing site- secure connection failed/site can't be rea

EDIflyer — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 07:18:58 GMT

Agree. @JonathanB there's clearly multiple examples from different customers now - are you able to escalate this to senior technical colleagues to investigate?

Re: Intermittent connection issues loading/changing site- secure connection failed/site can't be rea

MP — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 12:36:45 GMT

I've encountered the same issue, which has escalated notably in recent months. I tried different approaches, including changing web browsers, modifying SSL/TLS settings in about:config, and testing various DNS servers. My internet connection is established through a ZTE MU5001 (5G) router, directly connected via an ethernet cable. Notably, parental controls are disabled. This problem has also led to occasional difficulties in form submissions, causing the loss of work on multiple occasions.