Macbooks on WIFI cant use google

[jessica]

After coming back from the half term break we have found that students on the WIFI with Macbooks can't use google via Safari. If they use Chrome or Firefox it works and all other websites load fine.

When trying to load google.co.uk or typing a search in the bar it just says safari cannot load this page.

Has anyone else come across this recently?

[ShellfishClive]

Try running this terminal command to fix it:

 

defaults write com.apple.safari WebKitDNSPrefetchingEnabled -boolean false

[jessica]

thanks, when the next one comes in i will try that

[jessica]

Just tried this with no success although the error message has now changed -

Safari can't open the page. The error is: "The operation couldn't be completed. Protocol error" (NSPOSIXErrorDomain:100)

[mavhc]

Do you have any software to monitor the students/internet/firewall etc?

[ShellfishClive]

There seems to be a lot of talk about this around with users having this issue and using another browser seems to fix it. Do you have any extensions for Safari? Try disabling them to see if that fixes you issue.

[jessica]

This is happening to all students who have macbooks. There has been at least 20 come into the office in the last few days with the issue. When the next one comes in on Monday i will take a closer look at Safari's settings.

[ShellfishClive]

It definitely seems like it is an issue with Safari requesting web pages. Are they all up to date?

[jessica]

The students that i have asked said that they were all up to date. We thought it might be a dodgy update as it's only happening on macbooks.

[ShellfishClive]

You could try revert then, it could be a dodgy update. What OS are the on, there might be some info on it somewhere.

[asm]

Is there any harm in reverting one of the Macs to a slightly older version (or just an older version of Safari)? If you can signal it out to being a version issue then I think your troubleshooting would be easier, it doesn't necessarily sound like a network related issue, considering the fact that other devices and browsers are working.

 

I know it sounds like a basic solution but have you tried clearing Google's cached cookies, there is a myriad of potential solutions I guess it's about finding the right one for you.

[DGardiner]

had this with the bosses laptop the other day, tried the mdns thing, worked for a few minutes then dead again.

 

updated to high sierra and it appears to have resolved itself

[AlanD]

Apple seems to have tightened up on certificates...so if you are using a certificate for https inspection it’s no longer trusted...and you need to specifically enable that trust.

[jessica]

Just had another one in. I tried readding the certificate and trusting it to no avail. Cleared all cookies/cache in safari but still no luck.

This macbook wasnt working last week so we asked them to update to High Sierra which hasn't helped.

[AlanD]

...so...need to identify if this is wireless....or web filter. Does it work with a cable?

[jessica]

I don't think it can be the web filter as if you use chrome or firefox google works. It's only on safari.

The macbooks we have had in have been the new type with no USB or Ethernet ports so we have no way of plugging them in.

[ShellfishClive]

Have you tried a different wireless network or tethering to a phone? Just to rule out it's not a problem with the connection at all? I doubt it will be but it's worth a shot, see if you get the same results.

[AlanD]

..I still think...in as far as holding a finger up can detect anything...that this is related to certificates..possibly an intermediate one which has expired...It sounds very similar to a problem I saw a couple of year ago when seemingly inexplicably safari wouldn’t connect to our web portal, but other browsers were just fine.