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Halifax Online Banking Problem

minimos
Grafter
Posts: 83
Registered: ‎11-10-2007

Halifax Online Banking Problem

Hi,
I seem to be having trouble accessing online banking with the Halifax.  I can access the main splash site at Halifax.co.uk, and use the sign on option where it asks for username and password, but the screen always timesout when moving on to the security question when on my computer using Chrome and IE.  I have tried this from both my main desktop and a laptop connected to Plusnet. 
However, I can access the site from the Ipad using the same Plusnet connection.  I thought it was a problem their end but technical support at Halifax say they have no issues.
What I then did was tether my mobile to both my Laptop and Desktop and I am able to access the site fine, so this rules out potential malware or other nastiness on my machines.
My only other though is that it is a problem with routing at the Plusnet end (although why this would only manifest on PC's and not the Ipad I do not have the foggiest).
Is this something which could be looked into.
I can supply any logs or further details you may need.
Thanks in advance
9 REPLIES 9
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Halifax Online Banking Problem

Just tried with my account and I have no problems using Firefox 25.0.1
This is the starting link I use https://www.halifax-online.co.uk/_mem_bin/FormsLogin.asp?/
chrispurvey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 5,369
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎13-07-2012

Re: Halifax Online Banking Problem

I've tried the same and it's working fine for me too.
I have noticed that the security page does seem to be a little slower lately to load though but it does always work.
minimos
Grafter
Posts: 83
Registered: ‎11-10-2007

Re: Halifax Online Banking Problem

Thanks for your replies guys.
I have just tried again to see if it had cleared up
I'm quite stumped then, as I can replicate it each time as per my OP, PC/Laptop through PlusNet, tethering gets rid of the problem.  I've tried rebooting the router but the results are the same.
Any ideas of things I could check?
chrispurvey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 5,369
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎13-07-2012

Re: Halifax Online Banking Problem

It might be worth checking your MTU settings, what operating system are you using?
minimos
Grafter
Posts: 83
Registered: ‎11-10-2007

Re: Halifax Online Banking Problem

Hi,
Thanks for the suggestion Chris, it was not actually the MTU.
I finally got it solved, I believe there appears to be a security check that checks current system time, and mine was an hour behind GMT set by ntp.plus.net.
After trying with Firefox, then hoping through a couple of gateways, changing to OpenDNS with no luck, I decided to dual boot into Win 8 CP where it worked perfectly.  At first I thought it may have been IE11 doing its stuff and I had installed some updates on each of my other Win 7 machines which had caused the problem.
So I booted back to Win 7 on the desktop, again it would not open, but by pure chance after enabling developer tools in IE I noticed my system clock was an hour behind.  I thought it was a bit funny as I have it set automatically by the Plusnet server.  Anyway digging into the settings and changing it to the windows time domain it showed the correct time and allowed me to log into the site successfully.  I guess I never set another ntp server in the Win 8 preview. Problem solved, but it does raise 2 other questions for me:-
1.  Is the Plusnet ntp server currently set wrong?
2.  Why would me connecting through another provider (Three UK using tethering) allow me to get in to the site as I would have thought that the same ntp call would still have been made setting the clock incorrectly?
Cheers
chrispurvey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 5,369
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎13-07-2012

Re: Halifax Online Banking Problem

What is the time zone set to on your router? The Plusnet ntp server is currently set correctly.
minimos
Grafter
Posts: 83
Registered: ‎11-10-2007

Re: Halifax Online Banking Problem

It is set to the Plusnet ntp server, and set to broadcast on the network
I actually use the Windows setting to set time direct with a server rather than my own gateway though, not sure why I never set this bit it's been like that since I got my new router about 18 months back.
I might put my routers address in as the server on the Windows machines to see what happen.
zofik
Newbie
Posts: 1
Registered: ‎14-11-2013

Re: Halifax Online Banking Problem

I had a similar problem with the Lloyds Bank website when they changed over from LTSB. Worked fine on other machines on my network using the same connection.
In the end I cleared Chrome's cookies and it worked fine. It was probably due to LB using some cookie remembering which host to redirect to, not entireley sure to be honest.
minimos
Grafter
Posts: 83
Registered: ‎11-10-2007

Re: Halifax Online Banking Problem

Hi,
Thanks for the suggestion zofik, that was one of the first things I do when a website appears not to work, but it did not resolve it, but your info may be useful if someone else comes on the forum looking for a solution to a similar problem. 
It is definitely the time problem as I can recreate it by manually setting the time, or putting ntp.plus.net back in the Windows machines.
Anyway, I have updated the Windows machines to use my own gateway as the ntp server (which in turn is configured to pull from Plusnet) and it works fine, however if I set to ntp on the Windows machines it sets the time incorrectly.  I can only imagine that there is a bug with my router (Fritzbox 7390) which is causing this issue.
Speculating on the problem, it could be down to the firmware update in April.  I have not logged on to Halifax in over a month, which is before the clocks went back, but I installed the new firmware after the clocks went forward in spring so maybe there is something weird going on with DST if a machine on the lan requests ntp and the router is already polling the details.  It's a guess on what is going on, but its not too much of an issue as I can solve it so it does not worry me.
Hopefully my thread will help others who have similar problems
Thanks