This is a really weird problem that I can’t seem to track down further. Perhaps a creative person could suggest some test ideas. Here are the facts:

  • Firefox “Unable to connect” to my LAN server (a router) at 192.168.0.2 port 80.
  • Network error is specifically “NS_CONNECTION_REFUSED”.
  • Wireshark on a Raspberry Pi placed between the laptop and server shows no packets exchanged trying to connect. Any packet containing 192.168.0.2, any port.
  • Chrome and Safari work just fine on the same machine. I can see the packets in Wireshark. This validates my test setup works.
  • Curl works, loads the web page. I can see the packets.
  • I have reinstalled, refreshed, removed all extensions, cleared all history and cookies in Firefox and still cannot load the page.
  • Firefox in Safe Mode cannot load the page.
  • Disabled DNS over HTTPS, made sure No Proxy is selected in network settings. Still cannot load the page.
  • Disabled IPv6 in Firefox with about:config setting. Still fails.
  • I have no security software installed of any kind on this Mac. No antivirus or firewall except the default OS one.
  • Turned off Mac built-in Firewall. Still unable to connect.

Why is Firefox apparently refusing to connect to my server? Other LAN IP addresses work fine, even local ones. It specifically hates this one.

  • henfredemars@infosec.pubOPEnglish
    0·
    1 day ago

    Private browsing has no effect. Cannot connect, no packets observed in Wireshark. What are these logs that you might suggest viewing? There’s a console, but I didn’t observe any relevant long messages.

    I downloaded an older version from three months ago and it cannot load the page on the test machine. A arbitrarily-tested older version wasn’t compatible with my Mac.

    I tried Firefox on another machine (Linux) and it can load the page no problems. Sadly, I don’t have a second Mac to test if it’s a Mac thing, but then why this IP? Seems strange to me.

    If I use an SSH tunnel to direct localhost:8000 to 192.168.0.2:80 using a third box as a go-between, it connects just fine. Enter it directly in the address bar and no dice. Cannot connect.

    Thank you for the suggestions! I’m stumped. I can work around it, but it’s really weird and it would be nice to know why it doesn’t like this IP.