Performing TLS handshake

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2snehuliaci
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Performing TLS handshake

Unread post by 2snehuliaci » 2025-01-23, 00:10

For a few months I've got problem with some websites - they started to load very very slowly, sometimes I had to wait for two minutes until they loaded completely. And sometimes they didn't even load completely at all - for example some images were missing.
And most of the times I could see message "Performing TLS handshake..." in status bar, like it was stucked on something.
I have never found out, what caused this - if it was bug in newer version of Pale Moon, or some problem in my PC.
The strange thing was, that it only affected my home PC - and only Pale Moon. On my home laptop and on PC at work everything was working fine.
When I copied complete installation of Pale Moon (including all of my profile's folders) from work to home, it didn't help.
Today I tried to install fresh copy of Windows into Virtual Machine and then I installed latest Pale Moon - unfortunately the result was the same.

So I started to dig for solutions, unfortunately none of them worked. (for example set network.dns.disablePrefetch to true or set network.dns.disableIPv6 to true)

Until I found this topic:
Subject: Some HTTPS Sites Fail to Load (27.4.0)

and this post:
asimperson wrote:
2017-07-28, 09:24
Looks like if I use Pale Moon Commander to disable TLS 1.3 that gets the sites to work, but that's obviously not a desirable fix.
man, I really want to thank you very very much :clap:
I installed that addon and started to play with those TLS settings until I found out that when I uncheck "ECDHE-RSA-AES-GCM 128 bit" in "Ciphers 1" tab, the websites started to work like a charm again, they are loaded immediately :thumbup:
so one more time, thank you
maybe this information will help somebody else in the future

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sidology
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Re: Performing TLS handshake

Unread post by sidology » 2025-01-23, 15:44

Impressive, thank you.

Is it safe to disable Ciphers 1 "ECDHE-RSA-AES-GCM 128 bit", though?

This slowdown happens to me, too, but it is so random that I thought it's the web, not Pale Moon.

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Moonchild
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Re: Performing TLS handshake

Unread post by Moonchild » 2025-01-23, 17:32

sidology wrote:
2025-01-23, 15:44
Is it safe to disable Ciphers 1 "ECDHE-RSA-AES-GCM 128 bit", though?
It is, but be aware that that cipher is literally the most commonly used cipher suite on the web for TLS 1.2, IIRC (it's extremely common at least). So disabling it may break websites that offer very few suites.
"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." - Albert Einstein
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

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sidology
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Re: Performing TLS handshake

Unread post by sidology » 2025-01-23, 18:18

Thanks, I will try to remember that.

Btw, no need to install Pale Moon Commander if you only want to disable that cipher, just Paste & Go this in the address bar and set it to false (double click):

about:config?filter=security.ssl3.ecdhe_rsa_aes_128_gcm_sha256

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moonbat
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Re: Performing TLS handshake

Unread post by moonbat » 2025-01-24, 01:14

sidology wrote:
2025-01-23, 18:18
Btw, no need to install Pale Moon Commander
It offers a graphical interface for several other useful advanced features, so much better than directly mucking about with about:config.

@Moonchild - would be great if it was updated to support the additional preferences added over the years.
"One hosts to look them up, one DNS to find them and in the darkness BIND them."

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Moonchild
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Re: Performing TLS handshake

Unread post by Moonchild » 2025-01-24, 01:44

Updating it has been on my to-do for quite a while but I just haven't been able to get around to it. I do plan to set aside time for it very soon though.
"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." - Albert Einstein
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

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