I have a friend who’s having trouble staying logged in on websites because the cookies keep expiring. I’m thinking it might be a firewall or network issue, but not sure. She’s on a cable service, and I suspect that since multiple people share the same coax cable, it might be causing some issues. I’d like to recommend some low-cost software that could monitor network activity and see if something like a firewall is resetting her cookies.
I have already suggested she reset her router to factory settings and contact her provider’s tech support to run tests. There’s a slight chance one of her roommates has a firewall that’s causing the problem, though she thinks that’s unlikely since they aren’t super tech-savvy. Still, it could happen by accident, or there could be spyware involved.
Any recommendations for good software or services to track this? Also, if I’m off track, any suggestions for the best free spyware tracker right now?
Look at her browser settings instead of conjuring up all these other scenarios that have nothing to do with cookies. While some cookies have expiration dates, browsers can also be set up to completely reject cookies or erase them when the user leaves. Cookies are not accessed by routers, firewalls, or neighbours; instead, they are kept in the browser cache.
You must tell us the brand and version of your friend’s operating system and browser if you need any additional assistance with this.
But just because it’s happening on multiple computers doesn’t mean there couldn’t be the same browser setting causing it. She should check her browser’s cookie settings.
You know how some websites tell you to enable cookies? That’s because you can actually turn off cookie acceptance in the settings. Some browsers, like Firefox, let you accept cookies but then delete them when you close the browser. You can set exceptions for certain sites, though.