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

EDIflyer
Involved

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.

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493 REPLIES 493
Nameless
Involved

By any chance, have you used the APN three.co.uk and, if you have, which APN is the most stable for yourself?

So far, iD Mobile's APN has been roughly equal to three.co.uk in my usage although I am now using Cloudflare's WARP over the top to prevent any further issues

 

AkiTaiyo
Active

For me, I tend to find 3internet being a touch better.
Its a bit odd since it seems to affect which sites get the SSL error more often.  On three.co.uk I seem to get more issues with VisualStudio, apple and microsoft sites, which affects me more with work. 
But its just observational rather than any measured results, and the frequency of errors seems to change each time I reconnect anyway.
Also get Captcha'd a lot more when using three.co.uk since its nat'd

toaster
Active

I see the same issues with my iD Mobile sim in my phone

Nameless
Involved

I just thought about the mobile virtual network operators that use Three's network

There could be many more persons with this error that could potentially have solutions or need help but are effectively isolated from this thread and others just like it due to not knowing that their network provider is effectively Three

Just a thought whilst checking in for the week to see if there have been any changes

 

bytespider
Involved

Someone on this thread used one such virtual operator, IDNet, and said the issue did not show up.

This kind of makes sense if the network routing is the responsibility of the MVNO but I don't know anything about that.

It also doesn't seem to affect regular mobile users, at least doesn't for me, only those on Three's Mobile Broadband plans.

Some of the MVNO's I found from a search

  • Smarty (Three sister company)
  • Superdrug
  • iD Mobile
  • Honest mobile
  • IDNet
Nameless
Involved

With Three's broadband, I know that there can be an issue when using the APN 3internet (Broadband default) instead of three.co.uk (Mobile default) so if they are not using 3internet then that might be the reason

I did switch to three.co.uk because it had less issues overall and was ultimately more stable but the same end of file issue still happened which is how I ended up finding Cloudflare's WARP

I guess we could technically try out all of the APNs from these providers although I am not expecting miracles as the underlying network is the same
With that being said, if I do end up transferring to one of these related networks (Deals are tempting), I will still read this thread hoping for a solution

 

EDIflyer
Involved

Yep I used iD Mobile and haven't experienced the same issues there as I do with my Three Home BB where I consistently have to use a VPN to avoid issues.

Nameless
Involved

I will try their APN settings then - It will be strange being WARP-less for a while

I would imagine that the SIM card is also compatible with Three devices

Nameless
Involved

All seemed eerily fine for a while but https://groceries.morrisons.com/webshop/startWebshop.do eventually gave the same PR_END_OF_FILE_ERROR message

Since WARP works and they are cheaper than Three for myself, I guess I will save some money by switching

I have not checked the forums for iD Mobile but I wonder if it would be ideal to start a thread there to inform users about this problem and linking here?

 

BrAinZ
Regular

Other than the general connection issues, I had a more annoying issue where Three seemed to be blocking TLS connections to an FTP server that I needed to use.

I didn’t have much hope that their tech people would understand or be able to resolve the issue, but amazingly the lady on the phone actually made some quick changes and after rebooting the router it works perfectly.

so my learning from that is that it IS worth joining them as they may be able to help.

definitely a different experience to a few years ago when their tech people weren’t very techie at all.

i still can’t successfully connect to Screwfix though, but I can live with that.