Sometimes while browsing on a network managed by your Circle device or on a device with the Circle VPN, you might encounter a big scary security message. Depending on the browser you use, it might give you one of the following errors:
- "Can't establish a secure connection..."
- "Your connection is not private..."
- "Your connection is not secure..."
- "Connection not private..."
You may see a very specific error code displayed right there in your browser, such as:
- NET::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID
- ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID
- SEC_ERROR_UNKNOWN_ISSUER
Finally, you may see an alert from your computer or browser asking you to trust a certificate from Circle or warning about a local certificate with a common name like Circle002 from Circle Media Inc.
Here's an example error message from the Mozilla Firefox browser.
Why is this happening? HTTPS and Circle
The Circle filter page
When the Circle software blocks a website for a device (due to the assigned profile's Filter Level, Filter Setting, Pause, Bedtime, Focus Time, etc.), it lets you know by redirecting the browser to our filter page (http://filter.meetcircle.com, http://pause.meetcircle.com, etc.)
Secured connections
However, when a website using a secured connection (starts with https://) is Filtered, and Circle redirects to our filter page, you may see that big scary warning instead.
The reason this happens is because your browser has gotten confused by Circle. It made a request to secure website, and it is expecting to see a response back from that website to confirm security. However, your Circle software has intercepted the request. When it does this, Circle tries to send the browser to a different page to alert the end user that they have been redirected, but occasionally, your browser won't be happy with that and will show the security warning instead.
Don't worry: everything is still secure. Your Circle software is acting as it should and stopping the traffic from a blocked website.
How do I load the page I was looking for?
If you're being Filtered and that security/privacy warning is appearing on a page you want to load, you can do a couple of things:
Check your Circle settings
- Check to make sure your profile isn't Paused or in a Focus Time, or Bedtime. Open the Circle app and the profile your device is assigned to check for each of those. Disable to test if that was what caused the connection problem.
- Look at this History >> Filtered section for the profile. If the website or app traffic you wanted to load appears there you may need to change your Filter Settings, Filter Level, or make a Custom Filter to allow that.
- Misidentified devices assigned to the wrong profile may be filtered in a way you didn't intend. Check that your device is identified correctly and on the right profile: Identifying and assigning your family's devices with Circle.
Troubleshoot any network issues
- Your network or device might be stuck in a bad state. Try to reboot your Circle, router, and device.
- If your network devices are found by Circle that may cause issues if you assign them to a profile. Unmanage any unknown or network devices: Unmanaged Devices.
- Try connecting Circle over a different type of connection: Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
Still having problems loading that site? Try out the help in this article: My Device Can't Connect!