The connection was interrupted error message
I am *sometimes* getting this message. I have recently upgraded Firefox from version 24 to version 31. I *used* to *sometimes* get the message "The connection was reset". I *suspect* it has something to do with the fact that I am on a *slow* dial-up connection (I throttle down my dialup speed to 30Kbps, since letting the modem connect at higher speeds is unreliable because of the poor quality phone lines in my area).
Is there anything I can do to make firefox behave better with a slow connection? It seems firefox is over eager in its bandwidth use and with a slow, low-bandwidth connection tends to trip over itself.
(And no, it is not possible to simply get a faster Internet connection -- no other options are available or will work when I am -- right now, my *only* option is dialup.)
All Replies (6)
Hi Robert,
Is this happening only with Mozilla or with other browsers too?
If it is happening only with Mozilla Firefox, please see below. This might help you.
1] Connection settings: Make sure your connection settings are correct. If you have Internet Explorer and it works, compare Internet Explorer's connection settings (e.g., Control Panel -> Internet Options -> Connections: LAN) to those of Firefox (Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Network / Connection -> Settings) or Mozilla Suite/SeaMonkey (Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Proxies)
2] Firewalls Make sure that your firewall program is configured to allow internet access to Firefox. Most firewalls will ask you whether to allow a new program to connect to the internet, so it is important to always allow access for new or updated Mozilla applications. Even if you see permission in the firewall list of permitted programs, it could be for the previous program version, as firewalls require permission to allow an updated program to access the internet
Besides personal firewalls, other security programs, including Norton or Symantec Antivirus can block internet access or cause other connection issues, especially after the browser is updated. Note that some antivirus packages include web scanning features, such as AVG, Avast etc., that process all HTTP traffic, which may cause intermittent timeouts and failed page loads.
Please check and let me know if you are still facing this problem.
It does not happen with lynx (the only other 'browser' I have). I don't have IE, since I don't run Mess-Windows. There aren't any firewall issues. And other network programs (eg ssh, wget, etc.) work just fine. I don't run anti-virus software (I run *LINUX* not Mess-Windows). I am a Linux Administrator and programmer by trade.
Just in case anyone cares, this is my firewall (iptables):
# Generated by iptables-save v1.3.5 on Wed Oct 22 14:52:47 2014 *nat :PREROUTING ACCEPT [121157:26451828] :POSTROUTING ACCEPT [229860:39525660] :OUTPUT ACCEPT [229880:39534350] -A POSTROUTING -s 192.168.122.0/255.255.255.0 -d ! 192.168.122.0/255.255.255.0 -p tcp -j MASQUERADE --to-ports 1024-65535 -A POSTROUTING -s 192.168.122.0/255.255.255.0 -d ! 192.168.122.0/255.255.255.0 -p udp -j MASQUERADE --to-ports 1024-65535 -A POSTROUTING -s 192.168.122.0/255.255.255.0 -d ! 192.168.122.0/255.255.255.0 -j MASQUERADE -A POSTROUTING -m mark --mark 0x9 -j MASQUERADE COMMIT # Completed on Wed Oct 22 14:52:47 2014 # Generated by iptables-save v1.3.5 on Wed Oct 22 14:52:47 2014 *mangle :PREROUTING ACCEPT [5591968:10432298414] :INPUT ACCEPT [5002437:10218154702] :FORWARD ACCEPT [360451:147752687] :OUTPUT ACCEPT [4131279:10846600757] :POSTROUTING ACCEPT [4650929:11024279456] -A PREROUTING -i eth0 -j MARK --set-mark 0x9 COMMIT # Completed on Wed Oct 22 14:52:47 2014 # Generated by iptables-save v1.3.5 on Wed Oct 22 14:52:47 2014 *filter :INPUT ACCEPT [0:0] :FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0] :OUTPUT ACCEPT [4126558:10846149178] :RH-Firewall-1-INPUT - [0:0] -A INPUT -i virbr0 -p udp -m udp --dport 53 -j ACCEPT -A INPUT -i virbr0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 53 -j ACCEPT -A INPUT -i virbr0 -p udp -m udp --dport 67 -j ACCEPT -A INPUT -i virbr0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 67 -j ACCEPT -A INPUT -j RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -A FORWARD -d 192.168.122.0/255.255.255.0 -o virbr0 -m state --state RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT -A FORWARD -s 192.168.122.0/255.255.255.0 -i virbr0 -j ACCEPT -A FORWARD -i virbr0 -o virbr0 -j ACCEPT -A FORWARD -o virbr0 -j REJECT --reject-with icmp-port-unreachable -A FORWARD -i virbr0 -j REJECT --reject-with icmp-port-unreachable -A FORWARD -j RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -i eth0 -j ACCEPT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -i virbr0 -j ACCEPT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p icmp -m icmp --icmp-type any -j ACCEPT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p esp -j ACCEPT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p ah -j ACCEPT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -d 224.0.0.251 -p udp -m udp --dport 5353 -j ACCEPT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p udp -m udp --dport 631 -j ACCEPT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 631 -j ACCEPT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -m state --state RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -j REJECT --reject-with icmp-host-prohibited COMMIT # Completed on Wed Oct 22 14:52:47 2014
And my network configuration:
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:19:66:D6:ED:93
inet addr:192.168.250.1 Bcast:192.168.250.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::219:66ff:fed6:ed93/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:2880317 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1964606 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:2311791415 (2.1 GiB) TX bytes:3220886993 (2.9 GiB)
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:1795959 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1795959 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:7684248096 (7.1 GiB) TX bytes:7684248096 (7.1 GiB)
peth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr FE:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF
inet6 addr: fe80::fcff:ffff:feff:ffff/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING NOARP ALLMULTI MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:2880662 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1964510 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:2311954402 (2.1 GiB) TX bytes:3340143302 (3.1 GiB)
Interrupt:250 Base address:0xc000
ppp0 Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol
inet addr:66.19.205.123 P-t-P:192.168.254.1 Mask:255.255.255.255
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:7825 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:9249 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:3
RX bytes:5434436 (5.1 MiB) TX bytes:1398127 (1.3 MiB)
vif0.0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr FE:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF
inet6 addr: fe80::fcff:ffff:feff:ffff/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING NOARP MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:1964611 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:2880317 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:3220887203 (2.9 GiB) TX bytes:2311791415 (2.1 GiB)
virbr0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet addr:192.168.122.1 Bcast:192.168.122.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:81952 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:16333277 (15.5 MiB)
xenbr0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr FE:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF
UP BROADCAST RUNNING NOARP MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:250796 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:57442214 (54.7 MiB) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Modified by RobertHeller
I am not trying to sell you anything. Some cell phone providers can use their cell's as a link between your computer and the web.
Start Firefox in Safe Mode {web link} While you are in safe mode;
Type about:preferences<Enter> in the address bar
Select Advanced > General. Look for and turn off Use Hardware Acceleration.
Poke around safe web sites. Are there any problems?
Then restart.
About using a cell phone: there is no cell coverage where I live. Basically neither mobile nor satellite (broadband) Internet are options, mostly because of the dense forest (I live in a *rural* area where there are lots of the tall things with lots of green things on them). And with the high iron content in the soil, which the tree take up and deposit in their leaves, the forest becomes a Faraday Cage.
OK I turned off Hardware Acceleration. We shall see if that makes any difference.
Modified by RobertHeller
OK, turning off Hardware Acceleration is not solving things. I'm still getting "The connection was reset" messages, although I have not gotten a "The connection was interrupted' in a while, but I suspect that both messages are related to the issue: firefox not working well with a slow Internet connect, possibly because of overloading the small available bandwith. So my ultimate question remains: is there a way to get firefox behave better when using a slow Internet connection?