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.

[nhawan]

Can anyone test this site and try to download the fastestVPN app. I get the 'secure connection failed' error consistently but it does eventually download the file if I keep clicking or refreshing the link.

[nhawan]

The link to fastestvpn is https://fastestvpn.com/download/windows-vpn. I thought I added it to the previous post but it's not showing. This seems to be a good test to see if the 'secure connection failed' issue is resolved or not. Attempting to download the app almost always fails.

[munk]

Visiting that link comes up with:

SSL_ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED_ALERT

which is different from the omnipresent SSL 'PR' error which is the key indicator of issues relating to the subject of this thread (network traffic being interrupted / causing stalling issues).

I *think* this site you're linking to might be the result of adult filters being turned on?  I say this because if I try and access another site that I know is blocked due to adult filters (ie link removed ) then I see the same error.

Using a VPN to access either of those links (link removed  or https://fastestvpn.com/download/windows-vpn ) results in service as expected (ie circumnavigates any / all Three traffic inspection/manipulation and sees pages / connections loading correctly)

[JonathanB]

Hi @munk,

Totally appreciate it's for illustrative purposes, but I had to remove one of the sites you linked from the post, as it relates to purchasing age restricted items. Thanks for the insight, that some of the instances of SSL error are adult filter related though.

Thanks,
Jonathan

[nhawan]

Strange that you get an access denied error. I don't have an adult filter enabled and get the following when trying to download the fastestvpn.exe from the link..

It does download if I refresh a few times.

[munk]

Who knows, nothing is transparent or obvious with the filtering that they do, even if you have adult filters on I've heard stories of it kicking in for some people randomly.  They should have properly crafted redirection error pages clearly indicating why you're being blocked at any given time if you are blocked. 😞

[Midnight54]

For me it kicked in randomly after a reboot.  At the time was struggling to find my account login (because they changed the login section so had to reregister etc) - however on rebooting the router, the adult filter was back off again - strange one - tho the typical errors typically persisted while that session was active

[Midnight54]

A probable red herring, but the linked exe downloads fine for me, both Chrome and Firefox

The only downloads from a browser thing I can simulate every single time, over hundreds of files is using the real-debrid service

[nhawan]

I haven't had any 'secure connection failed' errors for the last couple of weeks but instead some pages will randomly fail to load completely or pause for a while and then load as normal. Maybe Three made some changes in the background but the issue is not fully fixed.

[BrAinZ]

Does everybody use the same NR5103E Hub, or are there various models in use?