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

[EDIflyer]

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.

[tucu]

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.

[EDIflyer]

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.

[JonathanB]

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

[EDIflyer]

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! 

[tucu]

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..

[JonathanB]

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.

FYI : IPv6 Prevented VPN Connection 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.

[EDIflyer]

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=...": EOF"

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

[tucu]

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

[elkolesio]

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.

K.