Why AVG Firewall Causes TCP Timeout Errors in Chrome
AVG Internet Security’s Firewall uses the same behavior detection engine as Avast, and the same issue applies: Chrome’s HTTP/2 connection pool creates multiple simultaneous connections that AVG may interpret as suspicious activity. Additionally, AVG’s Link Scanner feature evaluates every URL in Chrome before the connection is established, adding latency that can push the TCP handshake past its timeout threshold on slow connections.
Resolving AVG-Induced TCP Timeouts
Adding Chrome to AVG’s Trusted Applications
Open AVG → Settings → Firewall → Application exceptions. Click Add and browse to C:Program FilesGoogleChromeApplicationchrome.exe. Set the access to Allow all.
Disabling AVG Link Scanner
Open AVG → Settings → Web Shield → Enable Link Scanner → toggle Off. Link Scanner evaluates URLs before Chrome connects, adding latency that can cause TCP handshake timeouts on websites with multiple CDN resources.
Call to Action
Use the webs.ninja gateway to confirm whether AVG is the source of the timeout by running the diagnostic with AVG temporarily disabled. If the handshake succeeds without AVG, apply the trusted application and Link Scanner disable fixes above.