I get an error about a connection being insecure when the Wifi attempts to insert a login webpage.
Okay so I'm at McDonald's. Start Firefox, and type something in the start-page search bar or in the Google search bar up top. In response, McDonald's puts forth its usual "Do you agree to our terms?" page to log in. But Firefox instead displays the "This page is not secure. This could be dangerous. Run away! (or add a special exception)" page.
This is extremely disconcerting. Okay I figured out that I can change the address bar from https to http and get past this error message. But is there any way we could get firefox to be less belligerent when simply dealing with a Wifi Logon page?
Chosen solution
Open a nonsecure page first to authenticate to the wifi. For best results, use something that Firefox has not cached like abc.com, nbc.com, cbs.com or some other quick-to-type address. After you accept the terms, you should be able to use secure pages normally.
P.S. Yes, I know this workaround is an extra step, but I don't have any better ideas.
Read this answer in context 👍 2All Replies (5)
hello abaljeu, firefox does simply check if the encryption of the site is sound and if the certificate offered is valid. it cannot take into account what kind of page it is dealing with, since this is not something a browser could know - all sites are treated equally.
in order to troubleshoot the particular issue, first please make sure that the date & time is set correctly on your system. if this doesn't solve the issue (or it is already set properly), a possible solution depends on different factors:
- what is the error code shown under technical details on the error page?
in case the error code equals sec_error_unknown_issuer, please attempt to add an exception on the bottom of the error page & inspect the certificate (see the screenshot attached for instructions):
- which issuer information does the certificate contain?
thank you!
"This Connection is Untrusted" error message appears - What to do
What you say is true. Nevertheless, Firefox does not provide me the information - which is available - to make an informed decision. Specifically, it was provided with a forwarding URL and a web page with content. It could tell me what page is being rejected. It isn't google.com, despite appearances and it could be more helpful.
Many public wifi systems work this way, and there is no nice way in firefox to login to these. You basically have to type a non-https url into the titlebar in order to reach the page we're looking for. There must be a better solution.
Chosen Solution
Open a nonsecure page first to authenticate to the wifi. For best results, use something that Firefox has not cached like abc.com, nbc.com, cbs.com or some other quick-to-type address. After you accept the terms, you should be able to use secure pages normally.
P.S. Yes, I know this workaround is an extra step, but I don't have any better ideas.
Modified by jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
I agree with what you say. My wish is for a code-change to improve how Firefox presents the issue to the operator. The current "google.com is apparently insecure" is not helpful. Thank you.
And another place to offer feature suggestions is the Input site:
Help > Submit Feedback