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.

[wgen]

I have since moved on from using Three as my primary connection and acquired fibre instead. On a whim, I ran some tests on the Three connection today and still see the issue. As one has mentioned recently, this is most likely to be related to DPI / HTTPS inspection. I did send Jonathan a message about this in April, but received no response. Due to the random nature of the issue occuring on a line, a less technically savvy person will simply refresh a page and disregard the issue, which is why we haven't seen more people complaining and getting Three to act.

[bytespider]

Would be nice to get fibre, but 70Mb is as fast as I can get. Virgin Media is the only other option but they are expensive and have lost my business in the past. I can attest to the less savvy thinking as my family have complained "the internet is not working" thinking it's just a connection glitch.

[Nameless]

It is nice to have options - Coincidentally, Three is the fastest and cheapest ISP for myself which is why I persisted with them despite the issues and found this very thread and a solution that works for myself

It would be a very different world if we all were to complain to the highest point of contact for any issues encountered no matter what they are...

[bytespider]

But how do you get to the highest point of contact when support staff are trained to get rid of you as quickly as possible and phone transfers take a long time to make you consider of your request is really that important. Most people don't have the time to put into properly chasing someone while will actually do something

[Nameless]

That is one of Three great mysteries that elude us as it may be possible to find someone that works in the company at a higher level however they may either ignore queries directed at them or redirect them to "the appropriate department" - Usually it is only when the scandal becomes too big and the company is at a great risk of losing money will these persons notice

Given the lengths that Three is going through to interfere with our internet traffic, maybe there is something more that is going on but that is currently pure speculation - Deciphered data and much money are random words that come to mind

Time is always limited which is why support in general tends to waste a lot of it - I would like to be proven wrong here but, with over 300 posts in this thread alone since 22 October 2023, I have severe doubts on that matter

As things are, Three is losing customers and money due to this issue from those directly affected and from those that have been told to avoid them by former customers

When something better comes along, I will not hesitate to leave either

[Midnight54]

For the first time in several weeks, I've had 2 days without ssl errors and such.  Three router currently has uptime of 135 hours so a change during a reboot didnt sort it.

I do still have end of file errors for absolutely every single file I download with real-debrid while using Three however (to remind - Firefox I get a failed file error at the very end of the file download - if I hit retry 2-5 times it eventually completes (without needing to download from the start).....in Chrome the files just goes immediately back to the start over and over and over again downloading forever.  This started at the same time as the main issue as is damn frustrating....if this got resolved, then issue hopefully resolved my side....but I wonder what was changed.  This issue is specific to Three, same across multiple devices,and working on other networks/isps.  Also attempting the same on eg a tablet or phone, the file reports as download completed but is corrupt

[munk]

From what I've read in the thread above the issue seems to be to do with the way that they're filtering traffic as it passes through their infrastructure - packet inspection which is being acted upon to control what sites are visited and those actions end up interrupting IP communication and stalling some packets from working as they should.  Hence why using a VPN of whatever colour is the one thing that seems to 'fix' the problem since the content of the packets can't be interrogated and traffic can't be interrupted or 'mangled' in a way that stops the communication.

Although 'fix' isn't really the right word because of course VPN usage often leads to other problems with sites that use security measures to detect suspicious activity (like the use of different IP addresses as a VPN would imply) and can lead to bans or blocks on services.  I wouldn't even want to think what would happen if I tried using my banking apps via VPN, seems a sure fire way to give yourself a headache!

I bet there's some rule(s) somewhere in the big mess of content filtering system that they have that's screwing things up but working out where it is or why it's happening is too much.  Think hundreds of lines of firewall code that someone wrote with great inspiration 'back in the day' but that someone has now moved on and the new guys won't go near it...  One day the erroneous line(s) will accidentally get removed and things will be fine again.  One day. 😛

EDIT: reading that back - though why it seems to happen so haphazardly I don't know... maybe there's one node in a cluster of filtering nodes that is configured badly and only throws up the problems when it gets used in a round robin kind of way?  Who knows.  Not Three apparently. 😄

PS

I don't know if anyone is still keeping track of pages that have issues but the reason I came back to this thread just now was when checking on premium bonds at National Savings and Investments I got the usual PR_END_OF_FILE_ERROR:

https://secure.nsandi.com/thc/policyenforcer/pages/loginB2C.jsf

[Nameless]

Although I can not login to that page (No account), it, and every other website mentioned in this very long thread, does load without error for myself when using WARP

Clearly Three is inspecting and interfering with packets regardless of our non-VPN/WARP settings

I wonder what will happen first? A fix to these issues or this thread hitting the maximum amount of posts?

[munk]

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@Nameless wrote:

Although I can not login to that page (No account), it, and every other website mentioned in this very long thread, does load without error for myself when using WARPse issues or this thread hitting the maximum amount of posts?

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Yeah it's just loading the login page itself where the SSL error showed up. 😞

I found that whole NS&I experience today very unsettling - it's never been that bad until today/this month (I go there once a month to update financial stuff offline etc), I had to refresh a few times to get the login page to load, then thankfully got in OK but then looking at various account related pages, parts of the content (transaction lists) weren't loading and needed refreshing.  This is the first month I've noticed this on NS&I, touch wood it hasn't been happening on other banking related sites (you watch it will happen now grr).

Is a bit scary though when it's financial stuff. 😕

I wonder what will happen first? A fix to these issues or this thread hitting the maximum amount of posts?

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Haha yes probably the 1k posts.  Or like I say someone will delete a line by accident in some firewall script and fix things. 😄

[bytespider]

I'm wondering if content filtering is the issue here.

Ever since turning it on and waiting a few days, then disabling it, I have experienced an increased number of issues.

These issues Re, I think, the filter trying to block or redirect the navigation to the filter notice page.

Rebooting the router gets me a new IP which may or may not be up to date with what the filtering setting is configured to. For example yesterday I was able to access archive.org and a random adult site, the same test today without rebooting the router but I do have a new IP, I am unable to access those same sites.

I double checked the settings and they are still disabled on my account.

This doesn't explain why banking and shopping sites display the same issue, so perhaps I'm wrong.