Orbi cannot verify server identity

[roarty58]

This appears to be a recurring issue for many users.  Has a solution been found?

I get a message, "cannot verify server identity" and it references m.hotmail.com.  The certificate is Netgear's own www.routerlogin.net certificate.  This issue occurs intermittently on all of my devices - macOS, Windows 10, iOS, iPadOS.  All of my devices, including my Orbi, are kept up-to-date on updates.

I've seen solutions to turn off "private address", turn off hardware access control on the Orbi, turn off Armor, etc.  I've tried all of these and the issue continues to appear.  On my iPhone it blocks my access to the internet.  Has anyone found a solution that works (and continues to work)?

My Orbi is an RBR40 with two satellites running v2.7.3.22 (checked today and there are no updates for the Orbi).

Might be time to finally move away from Netgear as they do not appear to have a desire to fix this issue.

Mike

[roarty58]

Not sure why my images are not being displayed.  They were screen shots of the error and the certificate.

[CrimpOn]

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@roarty58 wrote:

Not sure why my images are not being displayed.  They were screen shots of the error and the certificate.

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Images placed "in-line" using the Photos icon in the menu bar do not appear to others until approved by a forum moderator. Images "attached" using the Browse button in the lower left are available immediately.

[plemans]

what modem/gateway are you connected to? 

Are you using IPv6? 

Have you tried a different DNS provider?  If so, which one?

[roarty58]

Thank you for the reply.  

• Running a Motorola MB8611 which is on my ISP approved list.  
• Not using ipv6
• Have not tried another DNS, can do that next.

[plemans]

try enabling ipv6 and also try the different dns

[roarty58]

Tried the Google DNS, issue went away for about 12 hours, then returned this morning.  Trying OpenDNS next.

IPV6 - I don't know much about it, but will try it.  I've read that is can cause some issues.  Will try it and update on results tomorrow.

[roarty58]

IPv6 is enabled and I continue getting the error and some of my devices continue to be unable to connect to the internet even though they are connected to the router.

Using OpenDNS servers.

[CrimpOn]

This issue has come up before, but I cannot remember enough about the specific cases to search the forum and find them.

There are two different issues:

• Attempts to reach certain URL's are blocked, which somehow redirects to the Orbi router.
• The Orbi router has a self-signed SSL certificate, which offends modern web browsers and they throw up the "Not Trusted" error message and will only proceed to the Orbi web site if the user finds a tiny almost hidden link that says, "I want to go there anyway."

Although the error messages appear one after the other, they are about different problems.

One thing is certain: The move by web browsers to use secure connections if at all possible has unintended consequences.  Years ago, Netgear had secured SSL certificates for a batch of URL's, including routerlogin.com, routerlogin.net, orbilogin.com, orbilogin.net.  (I think there were 6 or 8 URL's in total.)  In August of 2019, the certificates expired.  No one at Netgear has ever published an explanation, so customers are left to wonder: (a) did someone at Netgear just forget to renew the certificates? (b) did the certificate authority wake up and say, "Hey, we can't have thousands of web sites all over the world claiming to be Netgear. They are customer devices, not Netgear devices." and refuse to renew the SSL certificate.  Nobody knows.

So Netgear was stuck. They wanted to make modern browsers happy and they can't.  If the Orbi web administration provides only http connection, web browsers scream Insecure! When they provide https using a self-signed certificate, web browsers scream Not Trusted!

This is also one of those annoying situations in which some users are affected, but not others.  For example, I can browse to m.hotmail.com just fine. (and anywhere else).

Searching the forum is going to take some time.

[CrimpOn]

Could you please describe the sequence of events in more detail?

For example, does this start with opening a web browser and entering "m.hotmail.com", "login.live.com", or something else?

Or, does Hotmail not have anything to do with it?

So far, I have found only a couple of previous posts about this topic, and neither seems to have offered a solution:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-RK23-not-a-trusted-source-for-iPhone-X-with-ios14/m-p/198... 

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Cannot-Verify-Server-Identity/m-p/1963091 

[roarty58]

Thank you for the response.  The error has nothing to do with Hotmail, but has to do with Netgear's own self-signed certifcate.  The error occurs on my phone when I am in an app, not in an app, sometimes just picking up the phone.  🙂

On my computer it will happen opening a web page (intermittently, and not to any specific URL), opening e-mail, etc.  I have not been able to detect any pattern to when the error occurs.

On my laptop (macOS), I was able to set the trust settings on the certificate, and so far, have not gotten the error recently in macOS.  However, for my phones and Windows, I have not discovered a way to trust the certificate.

I do not currently love my Orbi.  😞

[CrimpOn]

On Windows, after I tell a browser to ignore the warning and proceed to the URL, that browser never complains again.

That might work as well for phone and tablet browsers.

It is so frustrating not to be able to replicate a problem. I would probably capture every packet to see what is triggering the web browser to go to the Orbi in the first place.

[roarty58]

I am not getting a link to proceed to the website in the error message. On my macOS I was able to trust the certificate; that option is not available on my other devices. - no place to click to ignore the warning or trust the certificate.