topic Re: Intermittent security errors in Broadband

Intermittent security errors

JohnCPW — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 16:47:14 GMT

Using Three mobile broadband, From time to time some sites such as YouGov give me an SSL error instead of the requested page. Once I get one of these, retrying the request never works but if I connect to a different ISP (e.g. by conecting my laptop to my phone's WiFi hotspot instead of Three) I can simply retry and continue exactly where I left off (in this case a YouGov survey). This indicates the problem must be somewhere in Three's infrastructure. I have had these issues with Three's 4G broadband service over many months and having just upgraded to the 5G service it still happens. It happens with all the browsers I have tried on my laptop (Chrome, Firefox, Edge) and also with the android browser in my phone when I use it with Three broadband WiFi (but never using the phone's 4g which is not from Three.)

Has anyone else experienced this kind of issue? If so did Three manage to fix it or even give you the impression they understood there was a problem?

Thanks

John W

Re: Intermittent security errors

JonathanB — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 10:42:40 GMT

Hi @JohnCPW,

Welcome to the Three Community.

This does sound really frustrating. I'm not familiar with this issue, but will be happy to flag it up. Are you able to share the full error message and/or a screenshot?

Just to understand a bit better, is it an issue connecting to particular websites as a whole, or does it seem to randomly crop up on particular webpages? Does the issue persist if you navigate back to an affected page at a later stage, or does it seem to be an intermittent?

Thanks,
JonathanB

Re: Intermittent security errors

sw — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 07:24:13 GMT

I get the same problem. For example right now I get ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR trying to access https://archive.org when connected via Three mobile data in the UK. Same on tethered laptop and on phone, across different browsers. Like John I have had this with certain websites (but via Three only) for the last few years.

Re: Intermittent security errors

sw — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 22:22:39 GMT

I reckon this is related to the adult content filter that is enabled by default. I turned it off (in Three account) and can now access all the previously-failing sites I tried.

Re: Intermittent security errors

JonathanB — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 14:38:41 GMT

Hi @sw,

Can you let me know, does this seem to match what community members on this thread are describing? It sounds like the error messages you've been seeing are similar?

Thanks,
Jonathan

Re: Intermittent security errors

bikerchicfromma — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 16:44:01 GMT

I keep getting an error message when trying to use my three mifi, SSL is not valid and three is unsafe.

Re: Intermittent security errors

Bubbles — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 15:47:37 GMT

These SSL errors are still occuring. I notice it much more on Three Broadband than my iD mobile, but it does occur on both.

There is something much more at play here than bands, and it's core network related.

Re: Intermittent security errors

Biob — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 15:26:20 GMT

Three are still blocking secure traffic. Have to wonder if three’s network is compromised and man in the middle attacks are the reason.

Re: Intermittent security errors

Biob — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 19:59:03 GMT

It’s almost like a poorly implemented man in the middle attacks.

Re: Intermittent security errors

32257 — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 02:02:16 GMT

I found this topic after my Norton security software automatically & suddenly connected me through it's VPN to protect my Three Broadband home wifi connection on my smartphone. I have this facility enabled in Norton to protect me from insecure wifi when I'm travelling, & didn't expect it to flag up my home wifi as an issue. This is the 1st time I've had this happen, so can only assume the security problem is intermittent.

Norton provided the following explanatory text: "Auto VPN has turned on VPN to secure this connection. Without VPN, data you send & receive is exposed to a 3rd party on this network. SSL STRIPPING DETECTED. The man-in-the-middle attack aims to downgrade this network's encryption."

Has this been properly investigated yet & has anyone at Three taken action to address the problem?