Unable to get site to load on laptop

[northie]

Doing this on my phone. I've been unable to connect to GA on either my laptop or tablet this evening. Both Chrome, laptop Windows 10. My attempts to connect are timed out. On my laptop, beside the web address, the site information says 'Your connection to this site is not secure'. I've tried deleting cookies, rebooting, but it hasn't helped. The full web address still includes https. I guess it's probably me but any suggestions would be appreciated. All other sites are working normally. 

[Mawgrim]

Are you connecting via your usual home network? I've had this happen sometimes when I try to access the site away from home on a public wifi network. 

[Myr]

13 hours ago, northie said:

he site information says 'Your connection to this site is not secure'.

Please make sure your browser is up-to-date. Put this in your address bar in chrome:  chrome://settings/help

Gay Authors requires a secure connection (little padlock) and https://gayauthors.org

Or try a different browser on the laptop to see if it still an issue.

[northie]

The site address still showed https even when the 'not secure' message was evident. I've manually updated Chrome, cleared my browsing history, and done a Google search for GA. That link which is current and showing https still gives me the time out error. Tried on Edge earlier and got the same thing. I guess it's at ISP level but I don't understand why it's only affecting GA.

[Myr]

1 hour ago, northie said:

The site address still showed https even when the 'not secure' message was evident. I've manually updated Chrome, cleared my browsing history, and done a Google search for GA. That link which is current and showing https still gives me the time out error. Tried on Edge earlier and got the same thing. I guess it's at ISP level but I don't understand why it's only affecting GA.

Edge is now using the Chrome base underneath. For testing purposes, can you try FireFox?  This will help pinpoint the issue.  We've not gotten alerts from anyone else, including our uptime monitoring services.

[northie]

Just tried with Firefox and got exactly the same issue. Neglected to say earlier, access on my phone is via external data. When I switch to wi-fi, I get the usual issues. They're both with the same provider (phone data and wi-fi). 

[Mawgrim]

I'm not certain on this, but I would say it's probably due to an ISP setting. As you've said, you are accessing GA via your data plan on your phone and it works fine. When I've been in hospital a few times, using their wifi, I got the same message when trying to view GA. The only way I got in was to set up my phone as a hotspot and connect my laptop to the internet through the phone as a workaround. Does your ISP have parental guidance settings which have been enabled, so it won't allow you to connect to any sites flagged up as 'adult'?

[northie]

45 minutes ago, Mawgrim said:

Does your ISP have parental guidance settings

Interesting idea, @Mawgrim but just loaded nifty without any problem. I think that answers any issue with parental controls. Thanks though.

[Myr]

Gay Authors is not getting blocked by major ISPs

 

Well...  huh.  It might be your wireless router. But that would be odd.

[ReaderPaul]

On rare times (not recently), I have been blocked on Firefox from getting to GA.  Never had a problem with Chrome or Edge, except for a couple of times in fast food places which had parental controls on their wifi.  I usually connect direct these days on my phone, since my plan includes 25 gigabytes of data anyway.

[northie]

OK... with @Mawgrim's suggestion, I'm tethering my phone currently to use my laptop. I have a new router which I haven't bothered to install. I'll try that tomorrow and see if it makes any difference. Otherwise, I'll start trying to get an answer out of Vodaphone (my ISP).  Thanks for your help, @Myr

[BigBen]

Sometimes problems like this result from outdated firmware in the router.  A call to your ISP's service department should resolve the issue.  But be prepared to wait some time for the firmware update to finish.  I once had this problem at home, and later at my mother's house.  The idea of updating the router never occurred to me, either time.

[northie]

Update... and suddenly this morning, I can get on the site no problem. That's without me updating my router or doing anything else this end. Weird. Thanks for all help and suggestions. 

[BigBen]

Glad to hear the problem has been resolved, whatever caused it, and however it got fixed!