WebConfig sees most recent SQL drivers as '(old)'

[aldr1c]

in the process of migrating our services and when recreating the database connection managers, I get SSL errors when trying to use the ODBC for SQL Server drivers (most recent possible, with SQL Server 2017 SSMS on a SQL Server 2016 Std platform).  I can use the native SQL client to set up the connection, however when I try to save the manager settings, i get an invalid connection string error.  I can manually change the string then to the old style SQLOLEDB and it lets me save (and doesn't flag as '(old)').

Can anyone explain what is happening under the hood?  I am at a loss really.  Ideally we would use the webconfig client (less logging onto the servers themselves), however this behaviour seems a bit inconsistent.

any ideas appreciated.

[Eve]

Neither EA or the cloud server has ever handled connecting to a model on SQL Server using the ODBC drivers.

You have two options:
'Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server', which has been included by default since Windows XP.
'Microsoft OLE DB Driver for SQL Server', which is downloadable from Microsoft but supports options like connecting over TLS 1.2