Website access problems solved - ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER_MISMATCH

[#1]

We have had this problem for a week and PlusNet service were not able to point me to what was wrong.

This is what came up when trying to access payments on Stewardship site.

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This site can’t provide a secure connection

account.stewardship.org.uk uses an unsupported protocol.

ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER_MISMATCH

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The message suggested that it was the Stewardship site that was the problem, but it wasn't it was my PlusNet broadband.

I have found out that PlusNet has a product called SafeGuard. It was this that suddenly started blocking this site.

To fix, sign in to your PlusNet broadband account then click on the link below to access your SafeGuard settings. Then follow instructions.  I just turned it completely off. It immediately fixed the problem without needing to reboot the router.

https://www.plus.net/my-account/safeguard/

I hope this helps someone as it has taken a lot of my time to sort. No problem for years, then suddenly this problem that we realised was unique to using our broadband.

[#2]

@Rowland 

Thank you for raising this here ... though this is not so much a fix as a mitigation.  This ought to work when using the Safeguarding DNS.

@bobpullen 

Are you able to catch this please?

[#3]

Moderator's note:
Thread moved from Broadband to Everything Else

[#4]

Stewardship have now a banner over their site to click on if people are having trouble accessing the site. Clicking leads to the following information page:

https://www.stewardship.org.uk/help-and-support-centre/giving-account/why-am-i-getting-secure-connec...

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Why am I getting a 'secure connection' error message when I try to sign in or give?

7 February 2025

It has come to our attention that a small number of our clients are getting a 'This site can't provide a secure connection' error message when trying to access their account. We have identified that this issue is likely being caused by parental controls blocking site access.

Please follow the steps below if you are encountering this error when you either:

• select the ‘Sign in’ button in the top right-hand corner of our website, or
• select the ‘Give’ button or a giving link

You can override this error by:

1. allowing access to our site by following the steps below to mark our Stewardship account website as a trusted site, or
2. using mobile data (not WiFi) whilst browsing our website

We are investigating with BT and Plusnet to understand why this has occurred, and we apologise for any inconvenience that this has caused. If you would like further help with this issue or another sign in issue, please don’t hesitate to contact the team during office hours or send us an email and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
 

For BT WiFi users

BT Parental Controls can be managed using your ‘My BT’ account with your BT ID.

To mark Stewardship’s account website as safe:

1. Log in to My BT with your BT ID
2. Scroll through the page and click on ‘Manage your extras’
3. Click ‘Manage BT Parental Controls’
4. Select ‘Manage Settings’ and choose the ‘Manage allowed and blocked sites tab’
5. Add account.stewardship.org.uk as a safe website

For more help from BT, please visit their website.
 

For Plusnet WiFi users

Plusnet Safeguard is Plusnet’s tool for online Parental Controls. Your username and password for Safeguard is the same details that you used when you joined Plusnet.

To mark Stewardship's account website as safe:

1. Login to Plusnet Safeguard
2. Go to your ‘Allow Websites’ list
3. Add account.stewardship.org.uk as a safe website (you can have up to 30 allowed websites)

For more help from Plusnet, please visit their website.