Can't connect to secure site

[canman]

Hi, can anybody help me out? I'm trying to connect to my bank's secure server to do online banking, but every time I try to connect, I get the message that the server has timed out. It happens on both my computers running Firefox's last version browser. I tried at the one of the schools I teach at and it connected immediately. So can anybody advise how to change my computer to allow me to connect. Thanks.

[aquamarine]

Could be that hackers from your ISP hit the bank hard and it's temporarily blocking folks in your IP's neighborhood. I dunno, without hands on there, I don't know how much more I can help.

[canman]

If that is true do I have any recourse? I would really like to be able to get access to my accounts. Or do I have to do all my banking from the schools computer?

[Number11]

Server Timed Out means that the, uh, server timed out. The server is not responding and it has nothing to do with the computer you're using. Call them or keep trying.

[Mike Oxlong]

Some sites still seem to not to play nicely with Firefox, despite it being fairly commonly used now. Try opening IE or another browser and see if the connection works.

[Mulboyne]

Have you been able to connect with them before from that PC?

It might be something simple like your cookie settings. If you are set up not to accept cookies then you have to create exceptions to access certain sites.

Go to Tools-->Options and click on the Privacy tab. If the box for "Accept Cookies From Sites" is unchecked, you may need to add your bank's website and any secure URLs as exceptions to access your account.

[FG Lurker]

Hi, can anybody help me out? I'm trying to connect to my bank's secure server to do online banking, but every time I try to connect, I get the message that the server has timed out. It happens on both my computers running Firefox's last version browser. I tried at the one of the schools I teach at and it connected immediately. So can anybody advise how to change my computer to allow me to connect. Thanks.

There are a few possible reasons this could be happening.

If it suddenly started you may have cookie or cache problems in Firefox. Clearing the cache and cookies is a good place to start.

It also could be that the bank upgraded their system and it isn't working with Firefox at this time. Try IE and see if that helps.

There is another possibility that is a bit more technical. Secure connections do not like packet fragmentation. Data is sent over your connection in "chunks" called packets. Your computer has a setting called the "Maximum Transmission Unit" (MTU) that determines the size of the packets your computer pumps out. The standard setting (1480) is quite often too large for your internet connection and this leads to the packets getting split up -- packet fragmentation. Too much packet fragmentation will cause timeout errors in your browser on some sites.

You can test this as follows:

Open a command prompt (Start -> Run -> type CMD and press enter)
Type the following:
ping -f -l 1450 yahoo.com
(-l is a lower case L)

You will get a response, either a four lines that start with "Reply from..." or 4 lines that contain errors, or perhaps a mix. I recommend yahoo.com because you will actually get a response -- many sites block pings.

If you don't get 4 "Reply from..." messages then you need to keep trying to ping yahoo.com using smaller and smaller numbers. I'd drop down 10 at a time and see how it goes:
ping -f -l 1440 yahoo.com
ping -f -l 1430 yahoo.com
...etc

You don't want to set the MTU too low, it will hurt your performance if you do. You'll probably find it will start giving reliable responses somewhere around 1420, depending on your connection.

Now you need a handy program called Dr. TCP. Run Dr. TCP and you will get a screen like this:



You need to choose the correct Network Adapter from the list on the bottom left. If you have a Windows PPPoE connection you should choose that. If you do not then you need to choose the adapter that you use to connect to the Internet.

Once you have chosen the correct connection enter the new MTU (the number from your pings that reliably gave you "reply from..." responses). DO NOT CHANGE ANY OTHER SETTINGS. Click on Save, then Exit, and then reboot your computer. Your secure connections should now work.

Please let me know if this helped!

[canman]

I tried what Mulboyne said, and I cleared the cookies and the cache, but with no luck. Also Mulboyne, this is the first time for me to try and connect with the secure site, so I I have nothing to compare it too. Lurker, I will try what you recommended but not tonight. I've had a couple of glasses of merlot, and I don't think it is a good idea to start that process, in this condition. But thanks everyone for all the suggestions.