Hello Norton Community!
Re: Secure Site (Https) Access over Netgear Wireless Connection
I thought I'd write a post about a recent problem my client had with NIS 2011 and a Netgear DGN1000 N150 router in the hope that it saves someone from going through the hours of troubleshooting I've had to do. I would also be interested to know your thoughts on this :-)
Client's setup as follows: Windows 7 Home / NIS2011 / Netgear DGN1000 N150 ADSL2+ Wireless Router / Virgin Media ISP
Basically, when connected to the internet over a wireless connection he could not access any secure websites (https), Windows Live Mail or remote support solutions (Citrix GotoAssist). This was only a problem over the wireless connection and it worked absolutely fine when connected to the router via a LAN cable.
As part of the troubleshooting I performed a number of steps including:
- Connected numerous different laptops with other security products to his wireless connection (all worked fine)
- Connected his laptop to different wireless router (worked fine)
The above 2 steps lead me to believe that the issue was with Norton's firewall and/or the Netgear router so...
- Hardware reset & reconfig of Netgear router (https port confirmed as open)
- Disabled Wireless WPA security
- Reset/Cleared Internet Explorer & Firefox cache and SSL state
- Reregistered various .dlls
These had no effect so....
- Disabled Norton firewall
- Disabled Norton completely
Still no luck so......
- Uninstalled NIS 2011 (using official removal tool - very important I've found!!)
At this point the wireless connection worked perfectly but obviously I coudn't leave the laptop without security.
- Installed NIS 2011 a fresh & updated.
Again no access to secure sites!!
I contacted Norton Technical Support who we very helpful and spent numerous hours and made a number of calls to my client but without a resolution - suggesting that perhaps the ISP was blocking secure traffic. This turned out not to be the case but a chance remark by a helpful chap at Virgin Tech Support took me down another route where I ultimately found a solution (at long last!!!).
The issue seemed to be caused by an incompatibility between NIS 2011 and some of the Netgear router settings for WAP/Wireless. Changes made to Netgear router config as follows:
- Wireless channel changed from default (3 or 4) to 11 (not sure this matters but worth mentioning)
- Wireless Mode changed from 'up to 150Mbps' (default) to 'b&g'
At this stage access to Windows Live Mail and some secure sites (but not all) was restored!!
- Changed MTU size from '1492' (default) to '1450'
Access to all secure sites was restored!!!!!!!
I should also point out that WPA security was setup again on the wireless connection without issues.
In many years of doing this type of work I've not seen an issue like this so would appreciate any comments you have on my conclusion and in particular whether this is a compatibility issue between NIS 2011 and the Netgear router or just a Netgear bug.
Anyway, as I say I hope my experience helps someone else and saves you a whole lot of hassle.
Thanks,
Neil