Troubleshooting

Connection and Login Errors: How to Diagnose the Path

A wrong device clock breaks certificate validation and looks like a server outage. Three causes, none of them an outage.

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Three causes, none of them an outage

A connection error looks like the server failed and frequently is not. The device may be unable to resolve a name, the network may be intercepting traffic until you log in, or the clock may be too far from real time for the certificate to validate. Each of those produces the same symptom from a server that is running perfectly.

What the error really means

Read this as a list of path problems rather than server problems.
Error or symptomLikely causeFirst check
Name not resolvedA problem with domain lookupCompare with a known-good site
A login page appears unexpectedlyCaptive portal on the networkAccept its terms and retry
A certificate or security warningDevice clock out of syncSet the time zone and time automatically
Everything fails after a network changeThe new network is filteringTry a different connection
Login rejected though the password is rightToken or session expiryReload and sign in again

How to diagnose a connection failure

  1. 1.Check whether other sites work

    If nothing loads, the problem is the network rather than the app or the server.

  2. 2.Look for a captive portal

    Public Wi-Fi often holds traffic until you accept terms on a page you may not have seen.

  3. 3.Set the clock and time zone to automatic

    A clock that is wrong breaks certificate checks, which is why the error looks like a security failure.

  4. 4.Try a different connection

    A mobile hotspot separates a device problem from a network problem in a single step.

What a connection error is evidence of

Frequently asked questions

Why can I not connect when the site is up?
The path is failing: a name that will not resolve, a portal intercepting traffic, or a clock too far off for certificate validation.
Why do I get a security warning?
Usually a device clock that is wrong by minutes, which invalidates the certificate even when the connection itself is healthy.
Why does it fail only on public Wi-Fi?
A captive portal holds traffic until its terms are accepted, and it looks like a server that will not answer.
Would a VPN fix it?
It changes the path, so it can help with a filtered network and do nothing at all for a wrong clock.

Worth knowing: A device clock that is wrong by minutes breaks TLS certificate validation and can make a working server look like an outage.