TanyaC
Regular Contributor
For the past several months I've been having an increasing number of websites return a "connection reset" error. I'm up to about 50 sites now. News sites, online retailers, forums sites, you name it; the error is non-discriminatory.
Except for one aspect - it only happens to http:// websites.
And it only happens OFF vpn.
I initially thought it was a browser problem. I use Firefox. But I tried Chrome, IE and palemoon. All exhibit the same problems (Except IE which just hangs). I spent months working with Mozilla to address the issue, but it seems it's not a browser issue.
Of course, I tried all the browser related stuff like clearing cache, removing extensions and add-ons, running in safe mode and so on.
I've tried with virus software disabled, windows firewall turned off, and with a very basic config in the RT-AC87U. (No filters, IP blocks etc).
So then I plugged in a 10 year old D-Link DIR-655 router I had lying around. BAM! Problem solved.
So here's what happens.
ALL PCs in this house (there are 8). Exhibit these symptoms
1. Access to a growing list of http:// websites returns a connection reset error
2. Steam community is inaccessible.
3. Netflix content vanishes and is not searchable. (Requires a detailed explanation if interested).
If the website has a https:// version we can access that. Sometimes they won't load properly and formatting is broken. If we try to access a website that does not have a https:// version we're out of luck. The website is inaccessible.
The problem also exists if I use the IP address to access the site.
Now to complicate matters, if we use a VPN the http:// sites become accessible, Netflix works properly, as does the Steam community site.
The VPN is not using any third party drivers or software. I've simply created a L2TP/IPSec connection in the network and sharing center. My VPN provider uses the Ruby interpreter, which my virus program quite rightly treats as malware, and they need a total of 8 processes to make the client work, so that's why I resorted to the natively supported windows configuration.
I'm on the latest firmware.
I've even tried reinstalling Windows from scratch on one PC and one Laptop.
Here's a sample of websites..
http://www.asrock.com/mb/
http://www.staticice.com.au
http://www.dvdfab.cn/
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewforum.php?f=38
http://www.lmc.com.au/
http://readingcinemas.com.au/home
http://thetvdb.com/
http://www.gskill.com/en/
http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/
http://au.billion.com/
http://www.adsl2exchanges.com.au/
http://www.gcflearnfree.org/windows10/getting-started-with-windows-10/1/
http://www.yamicsoft.com/windows10manager/product.html
Would like to get some feedback on this issue.
EDIT: OS on all PCs is Windows 7 x64 Pro and Ultimate.
Browsers: Firefox v37.0.2 - 50.0.2; Latest Chrome, palemoon and IE8 and 9.
Virus: Malware Bytes v2 and v3
There is no VPN configuration in the router.
Except for one aspect - it only happens to http:// websites.
And it only happens OFF vpn.
I initially thought it was a browser problem. I use Firefox. But I tried Chrome, IE and palemoon. All exhibit the same problems (Except IE which just hangs). I spent months working with Mozilla to address the issue, but it seems it's not a browser issue.
Of course, I tried all the browser related stuff like clearing cache, removing extensions and add-ons, running in safe mode and so on.
I've tried with virus software disabled, windows firewall turned off, and with a very basic config in the RT-AC87U. (No filters, IP blocks etc).
So then I plugged in a 10 year old D-Link DIR-655 router I had lying around. BAM! Problem solved.
So here's what happens.
ALL PCs in this house (there are 8). Exhibit these symptoms
1. Access to a growing list of http:// websites returns a connection reset error
2. Steam community is inaccessible.
3. Netflix content vanishes and is not searchable. (Requires a detailed explanation if interested).
If the website has a https:// version we can access that. Sometimes they won't load properly and formatting is broken. If we try to access a website that does not have a https:// version we're out of luck. The website is inaccessible.
The problem also exists if I use the IP address to access the site.
Now to complicate matters, if we use a VPN the http:// sites become accessible, Netflix works properly, as does the Steam community site.
The VPN is not using any third party drivers or software. I've simply created a L2TP/IPSec connection in the network and sharing center. My VPN provider uses the Ruby interpreter, which my virus program quite rightly treats as malware, and they need a total of 8 processes to make the client work, so that's why I resorted to the natively supported windows configuration.
I'm on the latest firmware.
I've even tried reinstalling Windows from scratch on one PC and one Laptop.
Here's a sample of websites..
http://www.asrock.com/mb/
http://www.staticice.com.au
http://www.dvdfab.cn/
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewforum.php?f=38
http://www.lmc.com.au/
http://readingcinemas.com.au/home
http://thetvdb.com/
http://www.gskill.com/en/
http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/
http://au.billion.com/
http://www.adsl2exchanges.com.au/
http://www.gcflearnfree.org/windows10/getting-started-with-windows-10/1/
http://www.yamicsoft.com/windows10manager/product.html
Would like to get some feedback on this issue.
EDIT: OS on all PCs is Windows 7 x64 Pro and Ultimate.
Browsers: Firefox v37.0.2 - 50.0.2; Latest Chrome, palemoon and IE8 and 9.
Virus: Malware Bytes v2 and v3
There is no VPN configuration in the router.
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