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.

[AkiTaiyo]

After about a month of being absolutely fine.. the EOF errors have returned today after another short outage.

I spoke to a customer support rep a while back before the problem stopped, they initially told me that I'd need to pay off the remaining contract, but I said did that still apply when Three can't deliver a service I'm paying for.  After that they said they could cancel without charge if I returned the router. 

I've been trailing EE at the same time whilst this has been happening, turns out they are also on the same mast so still get good reception and speed.   Their service has worked perfectly but a little more expensive to make the switch permanent (I've been trialing a PAYG sim). 
I didn't make the switch in the end since the errors stopped happening for me, but now they are back I think I'll look at doing it again.

[Midnight54]

Similarly, my contract I think is due within a couple of months, but I'm sick to death of this every time trying to update game

[Nameless]

I believe that I may have found a solution - Using Cloudflare WARP

You can find out more information about it here:

https://one.one.one.one/

So far I have been using this on both phones and computers with the following findings:

• WARP on phones (Via the 1.1.1.1 app) is the best overall
   - This does not apply to DNS only mode which has the same issues
  
  
• Although mostly irrelevant to home usage, WARP may not work with some public Wi-Fi access points
  
  
• WARP on computers can, in some cases, use significant CPU resources at higher broadband speeds
   - This is more apparent in these cases:
      -  CPUs with fewer cores and/or lower clock speeds
      -  Heavy sustained internet usage
  
  
• WARP will limit your absolute maximum speeds but the speeds possible are still beyond Three's estimated maximum speeds (597Mbps download, 50Mbps upload)
  
   - Whilst testing close to a 5G tower I have averaged the following results:
  
      Using WARP
      -  ~400-600+Mbps download, ~100-150+Mbps upload
          -  Speeds will increase when the warp application uses more CPU resources
          -  ~600Mbps+ download on average without significant CPU load or downclocking
  
      Without using WARP
      -  ~600-<1000Mbps download, ~100-150+Mbps upload (Without using WARP)
          -  ~600Mbps+ download on average throughout the day
          -  ~<1000Mbps download only happens beyond midnight when most people sleep
              -  My testing computers only have 1Gbps Ethernet ports

Also you can not change your DNS provider as Three will forcefully use their own DNS instead despite whatever you have set in your routers and other devices, even if you use DNS over HTTPS/TLS and you can confirm this easily via a DNS leak test such as the following:

https://browserleaks.com/dns

If this works for you, Three can thank me for saving them a customer - I myself was close to reconsidering my options however both cost and speed were reasons why I persisted in finding a solution that works for myself

[bytespider]

I maybe wrong, but WARP uses a VPN connection to their servers then the WARP magic from there.

Custom DNS can absolutely be set, but perhaps not with the hardware they supply. It used to be the case that you couldn't change it at all but I see now that you can, Whether it honours that setting is another question.

I have a machine with AdGuard Home set up which I have the NR5103E point to for DHCP, then that provides clients with its IP for DNS, which is then done via DoH.

[Nameless]

It is a bit more than a standard VPN under the hood but essentially yes - From the surface it works like a VPN for free

I have tried several options for setting up a custom DNS however, each time I did so, the DNS leak test would show that I was still using the DNS provided by Three therefore I will treat that as non-configurable

Hopefully a proper fix will be done by Three although, after 28 pages for this issue and several related topics floating around, it seems unlikely........

[Midnight54]

Dont partically want to be slowing my speeds by using effectively a VPN,worsening pc performance, increasing my power consumption by using additional apps, on top of vpns add risk to me losing certain accounts if seen in use in more than 1 location at the same time, which would happen risk with my nvidia Shield and PC usage in that case

Does this suggest that putting the modem into bridge mode instead could work and adding a seperate router with DNS being set on that?  as I have an AX3000T that yet to get around to plugging in

[Nameless]

Speeds will not be significantly slowed below ~200Mbps but that may also depend upon your CPU more than anything:

• My main testing computer uses an AMD Ryzen 7 5700G that is software optimised for power savings rather than running at stock and had no issues when reaching ~400+Mbps despite significant multitasking that had all cores running at ~100%
   - Clock speed range is 0.4GHz-4.673GHz, speeding up by 0.2GHz every 0.2 seconds when CPU usage is >30%
   - It is undervolted slightly but that is the motherboard maximum
  
  
• On that same computer, WARP did touch above single core saturation (6.25%) but not dual core saturation (12.50%) in its usual optimised mode however I am unable to test for speeds higher than 1000Mbps which is where WARP's overhead would be more significant
   - These percentages vary dependent on the CPU clock speed:
      - Lower percent reported at higher CPU clock speeds at the same download/upload speeds
   - The protocol overhead seems to be around 10%
  
  

Unless your usual internet needs require minimum speeds far beyond 150Mbps then you should be fine although any random large download, such as a multi-gigabyte game download, will take longer on your WARP enabled devices... But ideally we should not have any speed restrictions that are not caused by hardware limits

Overall computer performance wise, yes it is yet another program running but it can be negligible compared to other applications, most notably your web browser of choice, and background running tasks in some individual application cases (Manually adjusting many Windows background services can work really well but changing operating systems was still a better for my uses)

In regards to power consumption, if you have a dedicated GPU then that alone is likely to use far more energy than when running WARP but more processing does require more power nonetheless and is always a valid concern - It is also the reason for my main testing computer being software optimised for power savings

Unfortunately I do not use other VPNs at this time, traditional or WARP-like equivalents, and can not help there although using WARP still uses a regional IP address that should be a close match for your current region - This did result in the ISP being mentioned as Cloudflare when testing

Multiple routers may be less problematic on maximum internet speeds but would probably require more power than running WARP - If it works then finding an extremely low-powered router that does the job would be really useful

[Midnight54]

My speeds are typically 600-950mbps so much more likely to affect me, but the IP risk of vpn is a big no no.  Its not about using a regional account.  Using the account in any 2 IP addresses at the same time as an immediate ban, and with 2 devices often using it at same time, something like WARP far too risky

[MP]

Yep, a lot of sites out there don't like VPNs and can result in account bans.
It is not a solution to use a VPN. Three need to fix this issue once and for all.
I am not looking at renewing my multiple contracts as it stands with them.

[bytespider]

600-950 nice, I only get 300-500 and the tower is only 1/4mile away