What to do when the connection is reset

Here is what the error message that appears if the connection has been reset means and what to do about it.

While surfing the web, it is not unusual to come across various connection errors, often difficult for users to understand. Among them, the warning that the connection has been reset is probably one of the most common, but also one that not everyone knows exactly how to deal with. On the other hand, as the World Wide Web has become increasingly wide and varied over the years, so has the complexity of portals and applications, with technical requirements far greater than those required by the more static sites seen at the dawn of the Internet. It shouldn't be surprising then the appearance of client and server side anomalies like the one of our interest, usually identified with the error message 101 ERR_CONNECTION_RESET: but what does it mean exactly? And what should we do to try to solve it? Let's find out together!

What does error 101 ERR_CONNECTION_RESET mean

As we mentioned before, while trying to access a website we may encounter an error that informs us that it is impossible to connect and that the connection has been reset. A message of type ERR_CONNECTION_RESET usually communicates that the connection has not been established in the correct way and that consequently the connection itself has been reset by the browser in use at that moment. This problem - which can be recognized by the presence of code 101 - is quite common in Google's browser, the widely used Chrome, but it is not uncommon for a similar problem to occur for Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Edge users. Unlike the most common HTTP error messages, the one identified by the ERR_CONNECTION_RESET warning is not immediately clear. Above all, it doesn't inform us if the problem encountered was caused by the network, the client or the server. On a purely technical level, the connection reset has a very precise meaning. To simplify, what happens is that when connecting to a website, the browser does not receive a canonical reply packet, but only a so-called FIN packet. This packet is then used by the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), the standard network transport protocol, to notify the client that the connection has been broken. Under normal conditions, the final packet, the FIN, is sent only when a connection has been established for a certain amount of time, while with the ERR_CONNECTION_RESET error this unfortunately does not happen.

The connection has been reset: how to solve it

Now that the nature of error 101 is clearer, you will understand that it occurs when the browser manages to reach the desired server, but the next connection setting fails. As is the case with many other problems that occur while browsing, even when the connection has been reset the causes can be many and varied, and consequently it is not possible to immediately find a solution. In case it doesn't work, the always useful refresh of the page, with the appropriate command or using the F5 key, or the trivial restart of the router using the power button, we have several options to try to contain the malfunction.

Check the correct functioning of the site and the browser

Many times the simplest solution is also the most effective. With the error ERR_CONNECTION_RESET, before starting to "fiddle" with the system settings, we can check the correct functioning of the website we are trying to access. Just connect to another site: if this one works without problems, then the error is attributable to the portal. You can also try using a different browser to make sure it is not a server error.

Cache clearing

The browser cache stores large amounts of data while you are browsing, from cookies to passwords, download history and information about the sites you visit. If you have connected to the page that does not open in the past, it is likely that the cache contains information that does not match the current version of the site and will block the connection setting. It seems advisable to clear the cache, not only to speed up the overall connection time, but also to try to fix error 101.

Disable antivirus and firewall

When we are connected, the protection programs installed on our device make sure that our privacy and security are not violated. However, it may happen that the antivirus or firewall blocks access to certain sites, and their IP addresses, which are not actually dangerous. If you are sure that the portal is safe, try to temporarily deactivate the protection software, to verify that the connection has not been reset because of these restrictions.

Check proxy settings

Another cause among the most common in situations of blocked connection is the action of a proxy, perhaps automatically activated by some extension or plug-in that we have added to our browser of choice. To solve this problem, all we have to do is check the proxy settings and possibly disable it by removing the checkmark from the box that says Use a proxy server for LAN connections.