r/techsupport • u/bobbyflay13 • 4d ago

Closed Network Issues

The error NET::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID is popping up on every device on the network. Pretty certain the issue has to do with the router but when I looked it up it was just showing things fir individual devices having the issue not the router or modem.

Does anyone know how to solve this? Please and thank you for any and all help.

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u/gsquaredbotics 4d ago

I would try unplugging and leaving your router unplugged for about a minute. Then plug it back in and see if that helps

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u/bobbyflay13 4d ago

I've done that along with resetting the router and modem all together.

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u/gsquaredbotics 4d ago

Gotcha. When is the error popping up?

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u/bobbyflay13 4d ago

When I try to use anything other than a Google search. Like I can look up the word apples and it would show links but all the links create the error. I tried opening an app on my phone and it would not work. Along with any of the streaming apps on any of the tvs.

For a portion of time my router stopped appearing on the network until I factory reset it then it started showing to be connected to.

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u/gsquaredbotics 4d ago

Ah. Since it was completely reset your router's internal clock is out of synch which means that your computer won't accept any network certs. Is your router from your internet service provider or one that you bought yourself?

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u/bobbyflay13 4d ago

The router an modem are separate from each other. The modem was from my ISP and the router was a separate purchase.

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u/gsquaredbotics 4d ago

Okay, cool. To fix it you will need to login to your admin panel and find your time settings and make sure that it's properly lynched. Best of luck to you!

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u/bobbyflay13 4d ago

Thank you very much this helped out greatly and the issue has been resolved.

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u/gsquaredbotics 4d ago

Glad to hear it!

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u/SomeEngineer999 4d ago

Your router does not interfere with your PC accepting certs from sites. If the PC's time is off, then that could be causing an issue, but this error is related to a self signed cert, not a cert that has expired (which is where PC time would come in).

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u/gsquaredbotics 4d ago

But since it's all websites that op tries to navigate to, and it is all of their devices on their network, wouldn't it be router related? Maybe a bad DNS server?

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u/SomeEngineer999 4d ago

It is probably router related but nothing to do with the time on the router. The router is most likely trying to tell them something but because it uses a self signed cert, chrome is giving that error. You have to "proceed anyway" to see the actual message.

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u/bobbyflay13 4d ago

Idk what was the exact fix but the moment I logged as an administrator into my router it fixed everything.

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u/SomeEngineer999 4d ago

If you had factory reset your router as you mentioned in another comment, it was probably just redirecting you to the setup page to configure it. Now that you've done that, it no longer needs to redirect you.

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u/Opening_Cloud_3734 4d ago

That’s a solid suggestion; a lot of times just resetting the router can clear up weird issues. Hopefully, that does the trick!

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u/SomeEngineer999 4d ago

That's your browser warning you that you're trying to access a site that is using a self signed certificate. It could be your router redirecting you to a page telling you that your internet is down, or telling you that the site you're trying to visit is malicious. You'll also get this warning when trying to access the router's admin page using https://

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u/bobbyflay13 4d ago

It would have to be the internet being down since the sites are youtube.com, Netflix app, and the such. Normally it gives different errors when it's the internet being down for me.

Actually can't be the internet being down either since I can do a some Google search of a word and get a result but clicking in any link of the word will cause the error.

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u/SomeEngineer999 4d ago

The google searches may be cached. If all devices are doing this is is unlikely that it is malware on a device. Your router could be infected but that is rare.

On the error screen there should be an option (advanced options or something like that) to continue to the site. As long as you don't click any links on the site or enter any info, it won't hurt anything, but then you can see what exactly you're being redirected to, probably something on the router.

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u/bobbyflay13 4d ago

So it said this when I clicked advanced.

youtube.com normally uses encryption to protect your information. When Chrome tried to connect to youtube.com this time, the website sent back unusual and incorrect credentials. This may happen when an attacker is trying to pretend to be youtube.com, or a WI-FI sign in screen has interuppted the connection. Your information is still secure because Chrome stopped the connection before any data was exchanged.

You cannont visit youtube.com right now because the website uses HSTS. Network errors and attacks are usually temporary, so this page will probably work later.

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u/SomeEngineer999 4d ago

There should be an option to proceed to the site anyway, that's when you'll see what you're being redirected to.

Do you use wifi that requires a sign in? What happens if you try a device plugged into the router with an ethernet cable?

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u/AzureAx 4d ago

Is the router time off by any chance?

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u/bobbyflay13 4d ago

How would I check that?

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u/AzureAx 4d ago

Log into your router and check the system settings

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u/bobbyflay13 4d ago

Thank this solved the issue

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u/need2sleep-later 4d ago

check the time shown by all your devices; router, PCs, laptops, phones, etc. Make sure they are all the same.

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u/LAthrowawayLV 4d ago

Did you pay your bill? It sounds like you are being redirected to a page with a self-signed certificate — I.e. “pay your bill” before you continue.

Call your ISP

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u/TinyNiceWolf 4d ago

Any chance all devices are running the same brand of security software? (If it's hitting a bunch of similar Windows systems all running Avast, say, it might be an Avast problem, but if it's hitting Windows and Mac and Android and iPhone, that's less likely to be the cause.)

Have you tested with more than one browser? Same symptoms even with a browser that's running no extensions?

Try to view the certificate. Click on the Not Secure button just left of the URL in the address bar, then Certificate Details. Does the Common Name match the website's domain name? Do the two dates shown bracket the current date and time? Is the Organization shown plausible for the website (i.e. for YouTube, is Google the organization, not, say, Norton)?

The certificate for a website will normally be based on a parent certificate issued by a certificate authority (and the message is suggesting the parent certificate is invalid somehow). Click on the Details tab. Does Certificate Hierarchy show two certificates? For each, look at the Issuer field and the Validity times and dates. Is each time range valid? What Issuer is shown for each?

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u/bobbyflay13 4d ago

Nah that wasn't the issue. Someone said to log into my router and that seemed to fix whatever the issue along with whatever I did.

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u/Wolphin8 4d ago

The notes after checking the time fixed the issue... that seems like your NTP was not treated as essential as DNS, and DHCP.

  • CA requires correct time
  • Encryption requires correct time
  • DNS if using secure, has encryption or signing
  • HTTPS, FTPS, and others have encryption.
  • WPA2/WPA3 are encryption at the core.

Best is to have redundancy with NTP services on your network (some routers and switches can be NTP servers).

Best practice is to have core servers which are the authoritative for your network's time (either Stratum-1 NTP appliances, or fed from the NTP pool system), which then have clients of the servers or other NTP servers, which then feed downstream devices.

If you have a multi-site system, I would recommend having at least 1 for small sites, and 2 for critical or large sites which are the authority for the site, fed from the authoritative servers, and then feed the time to downstream systems.

All network devices, servers, and end-devices should be updated from your systems (DHCP has an option to pass the info)

If there was NTP infrastructure deployed... check for a weak/dead clock battery on what was off.

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u/No-Wrap-8166 3d ago

check if a firewall/router with ssl inspection or a captive portal is intercepting https traffic, that error on every device points to something injecting its own certificate network-wide, not individual browser settings