Firefox (desktop and android) unable to load google-related sites (gmail and google search)
Essentially, Firefox (desktop and android) at random times fail to fully load google websites. For instance if I search in the toolbar (google is the default) it won't complete the search, it will just think a bit then revert to a 'new tab' page as if the search never existed (bing.com works fine). Or if I go to my gmail account, it'll slowly load the envelope loading screen but will never complete. This is an intermittent issue throughout the day/night where suddenly I just can't load gmail or google search for 20 or so minutes.
I am able to get to google photos and calendar, etc. but not gmail or google search.
I am able to load those in other browsers such as Edge. I have attempted to clear cache and history and turned off all of my extensions. I've also re-installed Firefox.
The closest thing I have to a solution is that it has something to do with my home internet (wifi not hardwired) and/or region (Australia). For example, when the sites don't load I've tested turning on a VPN for the US, which then allows the sites to load just fine.
Is this some sort of DNS issue or something that I can change in the router or on my desktop? It's very curious that it's only those two sites that don't work (gmail and google search).
All Replies (3)
To summarize:
Only a Firefox issue as other browsers can load google searches and gmail when firefox can't.
Turning ON my VPN to another country resolves the issue in Firefox.
Only occurs on my home internet.
If it was my internet I would think it would affect all browsers equally.
This could be a problem with the TLS 1.3 Early Data feature also known as Zero Round Trip Time Resumption (0rtt). You can try to set security.tls.enable_0rtt_data = false on the about:config page to disable this feature until this is fixed by Google or Mozilla to see if that helps.
See also:
- /questions/1376015 Issue with most Google sites on Firefox v100 64bit
Are you using a proxy or VPN?
You can check the connection settings.
- Settings -> General -> Network: Connection -> Settings
If you do not need to use a proxy to connect to internet, try to select "No Proxy" if "Use the system proxy settings" or one of the others do not work properly.
See "Firefox connection settings":
I've attempted the former. Also attempted to change network.http.http3.enable and network.http.http3.enable_0rtt to false as well with no success.
I don't use a proxy but Firefox was set to "Use the system proxy settings" so I turned that to "No Proxy" to see if that helps.
I use a VPN and noted that using it allows gmail/google searches in Firefox to work for some reason.
I guess I'll find out if "No Proxy" works even though I wasn't using one.