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.

[Midnight54]

Its also not like it affected everyone 12 months ago.  It started for me only several months back, and seems to be becoming wider and wider an issue, so surely they should have been able to use that sort of information to narrow down the issue of what has changed in areas and rollback or isolate the issue if possible

[torz77]

I'm not sure it is becoming a wider issue.... just most people don't know where/how to complain.

Three's "customer support" is as good as useless on anything which doesn't involve resetting your router.

I've lived with it for long enough as I just assumed it was a "me" issue, and it would have been futile trying to deal with customer service for the aforementioned reason.

Fortunately I have a VPN and found that solved the issue quick sharp. If I hadn't got one, I would be royally screwed and it brings it's own drawbacks.... and why the hell should I have to use a VPN just to use my ISP reliably??

Ultimately, I didn't even know this "support" channel was here (loose term... I'm not sure failing to address an issue for the best part of a year can be described as support). I only found it because I finally lost patience and googled "Three PR_END_OF_FILE_ERROR", and here I am.

FWIW, I can tell you pretty much exactly when I first hit this issue. It was on or about 31/08/2023. I know this, because I initially took the issue up with the owner of the website that first displayed this behaviour... so, yeah. That's over a year now. Nice.

Ultimately, I would have ditched Three by now if I had any other choice. Sadly my high speed internet options are non-existant, so I have no choice but to support an abysmal company. The best I can do (and do do) is tell anyone and everyone that is even vaguely considering this service to look elsewhere. I take no pleasure from that. I take pleasure from getting the service I pay for.

If it helps any (ha ha,  good one!), this is what I get when I try to connect to this very page without my VPN active. I know this doesn't appear to be an issue that impacts anyone else, and may even not be related.... but not being able to connect to my own ISPs site without a VPN is pretty much the definition of tinpot

[Midnight54]

Maybe not on scale, as you say, lot of people will be simply unaware and put it down to various errors on their phone, or when using the likes of Chrome its less obvious.  However it must have spread, I had 18months+ of zero issues, then its been a PITA ever since without fail, on sites and such used daily.  How far spread though is the question, and if by certain masts, or regions

What would be interesting, we know its not the devices themselves as people have had replacements/diff models(possible fw changes excluded), would be eg driving to someones local town that allegedly have zero issues with my router, and see if the issue is magically gone from my router when connected to their mast.  However, those that dont have the issue are unlikely to be reading on here either

[fashric]

Ye, it's pretty obvious they don't give a sh*t to punt it bluntly

[andym00]

Yeah, I'm beginning to think they really don't care.. I've started today to look at getting a 5G SIMs from other providers, not sure exactly which yet, but it's gone on too long now.. It's available from a few others on the local masts, particularly on the closest mast, so hopefully one of them might have the speed of the Three 5G connection.. Not too hopeful though 😞

[Nameless]

Just another message checking in on the state of things for everyone

Today I started my testing by turning off WARP and going through the list of websites that usually cause issues however I did not get very far - https://duckduckgo.com/ caused the PR_END_OF_FILE_ERROR to appear immediately and, less than a minute later, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page caused the same issue on a page refresh

I guess it is safe to say that the issue still persists.............

[Midnight54]

Frustratingly so and tumbleweed from Three.  Sometimes having to refresh pages 10x to get them to load its that bad some days

[torz77]

There is no issue. Nothing to see here. Just because you think there is an issue, doesn't mean there is one. We'll keep taking your money in the meantime.

Given the total lack of any kind of progress or recognition, I'm going to vote with my wallet, and am looking for alternatives.

[torz77]

Does anyone use Twitter (I don't) and have a lot of followers? It may be worth calling Three out directly and referencing this thread. Companies seem to respond more when they are very visibly publicly shamed, and clearly this thread is getting nowhere.

[nhawan]

I haven't had any of the PR_END_OF_FILE_ERROR recently but maybe it's because I've set the APN as Three.co.uk and IPV4 only. I've also setup the hub in bridgemode with all the routing being done by my Zenwifi XT8 mesh.

I do have an issue with the Cahoot bank website where it logs me out constanly when I trying to change email and phone number settings. The same website works perfectly fine when using a London VPN.