Getting the "Can't establish secure connection" on Mac, but nowhere else

[Bastette54]

Hi,

I'm getting the "Safari can't establish a secure connection" to an https site. I've read up on this problem, and found that for most people, the problem does not happen on other browsers. But for me, the same problem happens in Firefox.

This problem does NOT happen if I access the same site from my Windows laptop. Ditto for my iPad. It's only the Mac that has this problem. It's an old Mac, but in general I don't have trouble accessing other websites from it, secure or not.

Is there anything I can do to troubleshoot this? BTW, I'm not an experienced Mac user, and have rarely looked under the hood.

Thanks!

 

[chscag]

Welcome to our forums.

Which website are you getting the "can not establish a secure connection"? And what is the year and model of the Mac? Also, which version of macOS is it running?

If you can access the site with your Windows computer and the iPad, the site is probably not at fault.

 

[Bastette54]

Hi, and thanks. Yes, I know the site isn't the problem. I tried accessing another https site from the Mac (using both Firefox and Safari) and that also failed, with the same problem. (Safari and Firefox give different error messages, but both are related to the fact that it can't connect to a secure site because of the certificate.) So I know it's the Mac, but I was hoping to find a way to fix it or a workaround.

To answer your question, it's a Mac Mini, OS X version 10.6.8, from 2011, I believe (the copyright notice says "1983-2011"). It's a pretty old Mac, but replacing it isn't an option right now. My Windows laptop is fairly old, too, and so is the iPad, but they don't have any problem with this. The Mac is connected to my TV so I can watch videos in something other than an office chair.

Thanks again.

 

[dtravis7]

Its the old version of OSX that is causing that with some sites. Safari is old and even Chrome that can be installed on 10.6.8 is way old. Not much you can do.

There is a browser called Waterfox that is new Firefox code but runs on older versions of OSX.. you might give that a try.

https://www.waterfoxproject.org/en-US/waterfox/new/

 

[chscag]

Your Mac Mini from 2011 running Snow Leopard (10.6.8) should be able to connect to https sites with both Safari and Firefox. Might be a good idea to go over your Network preferences from System Preferences, Network, to make sure all your settings are correct. It's been many years since I've run Snow Leopard so I'm afraid I can't be of much help with those.

And like Dennis said above, your version of macOS is old which means that the version of Safari and Firefox that you can run are also old.

 

[dtravis7]

Charlie, the last time I messed with Snow Leopard there were sites with errors. Been so long.

To the OP, I know for sure Waterfox I gave you the URL to works fine on Mountain Lion. Try it on Snow Leopard and let us know.

 

[ferrarr]

Just as an FYI, that 2011 Mac mini, will run newer versions of Mac OS X/OS X/macOS, all the way up to 10.13 High Sierra.

 

[dtravis7]

Just as an FYI, that 2011 Mac mini, will run newer versions of Mac OS X/OS X/macOS, all the way up to 10.13 High Sierra.

You are 100% correct. My brain is gone with all I had to go through the past 2 months. Grin

All the OP has to do is upgrade to a newer OS! Thanks Bob. I can not believe I missed the 2011 Mini part!