Computer randomly stops responding to incoming connections

I have a W11 laptop with file sharing, RDP (incoming), and VNC (incoming) enabled. Power management is disabled so the computer does not sleep. The computer randomly stops responding to incoming local connections, including file sharing, ping, RDP, and VNC.

When this happens, outbound connections work fine. It can happen while the computer is in use--it can access network resources and the Internet with no issues. A reboot always fixes the issue and file sharing, ping, RDP, VNC, etc. all start to work. After some random period, they stop working again. The computer is not switching to the public profile when it fails. It stays on private when it rejects the connections. Even more strange, sometimes incoming connections will start working on its own even without a reboot.

WIndows and drivers are up to date. There is no IP conflict.

Does anyone have an idea what might be going on and what is the resolve?

Thanks!

Something weird like this will have to be process of elimination. I would suggest you start with these steps which are not specific to your issue but are general steps when one has a network related issue..

1. Make sure you have no corrupt system files that is causing this problem. Open a command prompt as administrator and type sfc /scannow
Pay attention to the scan results to see if SFC found anything it could not repair. If it found corruption it could not fix followup with this command (note the spaces)
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
Restart computer

(Note-you can follow up with another sfc /scannow command to make sure that dism repaired the files)

2. Powercycle your router. Restart laptop.

3. Run network troubleshooter. Settings>System>troubleshoot>other troubleshooters>Network & Internet>-RUN

4. . Reset network adapters Reset Network Adapters in Windows 11 Tutorial

5. Attached is @FreeBooter .bat file which resets network components. RIGHT click on the .bat file and select run as administrator.

6. Repair Install Windows 11 Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade Tutorial

There could also be something flakey in your wireless adapter. The only way to eliminate it as being as issue is to test using ethernet (if laptop has it which is doubtful) or a $10 external wireless adapter.
Hope one of these suggestions help.

glasskuter said:

Something weird like this will have to be process of elimination.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply and ideas. I was hoping that the symptoms I described is a known issue. I will poke around and see what comes up.

It's 99% just connection issue.
As suggested, reboot both PC and router. Same for the remote device connected to your PC.

badrobot said:

It's 99% just connection issue.
As suggested, reboot both PC and router.

Click to expand...

The problem is resolved every time I reboot the PC, then the problem occurs again after a random period of time (usually within 12-24 hours). I'm trying to figure out why it stops working after a period of time--that is the only clue I have.

I will reboot the router just in case, but it's an enterprise firewall (Sonicwall) that has been rock solid and I have no RDP or other connection issues with any of the other computers on the network, so I'm fairly certain that the issue is with the specific PC.

Hi there, seems like an old thread but it's still a current problem. I've been struggling with this exact problem for months, thinking the issue was to do with a particular network server code rather than being a system problem.

Essentially, the machine would just stop responding to remote connections at random. It's still up and it still can open outbound connections. Reboot always fixes it, works for a while then again stops working.

I haven't 100% tested this yet, but my fix is to do with wireless AC roaming - in my case with Intel Wireless Driver for Intel AC 9560. Essentially I changed "Roaming Aggressiveness" to "Lowest" (Control Panel->Network and Sharing Centre->Change Advanced Adapter Settings->[Your AC network adapter]->Configure->Advanced). Default appears to be "Medium". The whole thing seems like a bug to do with connection handoff when AC wifi roams from one AC station to another. At least in my case this helped.

I suspect there are other failure modes to do with wifi AC and also with power management that can lead to this problem.

Hope this helps.

Both PC's and Modem/Routers can develop errors, and communications seem to be the most vulnerable.
Then to make things worse, way too many people want to leave all their 'stuff' on 24x7. That's BAD because it doesn't give the equipment a chance to clear the errors and perform a full RESET.
Before I ever had a PC, I worked around big Mainframe Computers. It was common place, that those HUGE computers got a Power OFF Reset, once every 24 hours. The operators called that, "Bouncing the System".

So, I've developed my own regimen to perform a RESET on my own system. When I'm done working with my PC, I turn it OFF. NO Sleep, NO Hibernate, just OFF.
Same with my Modem/Router. It's on a timer that turns it off, for several hours every night.

Even when I'm trying to download something and the speed is really slow, I perform a POWER OFF reset on the Modem/Router and that helps to restore my internet download speed.

Cheers Mate,
TM

same issue here, since I bought the motherboard.. it seems if i push the network cable a second it connects again to the network... all great cables... it did it with the first cable before I bought new one... it could be a crappy solder on the Asus Z790 motherboards.. but it never really affects anything else.. very sporadic . I looked it up to see if other have the same issue and found some threads on the Internet, and some people say try new drivers, but nothing ever fixes it for anyone... note: I use network cable, I don't use wifi with the motherboard.