Visibility of Private Networked Machines in FileExplorer flawed & restricted to WiFi


Win7ine

Win7ine

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The visibility of private networked machines in FileExplorer remains flawed in latest

Edition Windows 11 Pro
Version 25H2
Installed on ‎01/‎04/‎2026
OS build 26200.8875
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.334.0

When these machines connect through WiFi/Wireless to the exact same private network they do show up in FileExplorer>Network.
However, when hardwired, Ethernet connected they disappear - this has been the case for a couple of months now and remains unresolved.
 

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Windows 11 PRO / Windows Server 2016 Essentials
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Windows 11 PRO / Windows Server 2016 Essentials
Win7ine said:
The visibility of private networked machines in FileExplorer remains flawed in latest

Edition Windows 11 Pro
Version 25H2
Installed on ‎01/‎04/‎2026
OS build 26200.8875
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.334.0

When these machines connect through WiFi/Wireless to the exact same private network they do show up in FileExplorer>Network.
However, when hardwired, Ethernet connected they disappear - this has been the case for a couple of months now and remains unresolved.
Click to expand...
Did you check to see if the machine's IPs have remained the same after switching?
I have no such issues.
 
Last edited:

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    Windows 11 BetaAMD A9-94208 GB of DDR4AMD Radeon R5
    Operating System
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    Asus X751BP
    CPU
    AMD A9-9420
    Memory
    8 GB of DDR4
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    AMD Radeon R5
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    Seagate 1 TB
OAT said:
Did you check to see if the machine's IPs have remained the same after switching?
You blame MS for your woes but I have no such issues.
Click to expand...
IP's change but not the network, and I blame MS of course because nothing else has changed in my setup but Windows Updates.
 

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Windows 11 PRO / Windows Server 2016 Essentials
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Windows 11 PRO / Windows Server 2016 Essentials
Maybe you could hit the Feedback Hub to report the problem or see if others might have brought it up.
 
Last edited:

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    All Branches but ReleaseAMD Ryzen 7 7735HS 3200-4500 Mhz 8 cores x 232 GB DDR5Radeon Graphic / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB...
    OS
    All Branches but Release
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Nitro ANV15-51
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS 3200-4500 Mhz 8 cores x 2
    Motherboard
    Sportage_RBH
    Memory
    32 GB DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphic / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB GDDR6
    Sound Card
    AMD/Realtek(R) Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Integrated Monitor (15.3"vis)
    Screen Resolution
    FHD 1920X1080 16:9 144Hz
    Hard Drives
    KINGSTON OM8SEP4512Q-AA 1TB
    Western Digital 256GB
    PSU
    19V DC 6.32 A 120 W
    Cooling
    Dual Fans
    Mouse
    MS Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    Fiber 1GB Cox -us & 1GB Orange-fr
    Browser
    Edge Canary- Firefox Nightly-Chrome Dev-Chrome Dev
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 BetaAMD A9-94208 GB of DDR4AMD Radeon R5
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Beta
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus X751BP
    CPU
    AMD A9-9420
    Memory
    8 GB of DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    AMD Radeon R5
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 1 TB
OAT said:
Maybe you could hit the Feedback Hub to report the problem or see if others might have brought it up.
Click to expand...
... and of course all works as it should if I manually restart the Function Discovery Resource Publication service (FDResPub) even though it is running.
 

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Windows 11 PRO / Windows Server 2016 Essentials
OS
Windows 11 PRO / Windows Server 2016 Essentials
Win7ine said:
... and of course all works as it should if I manually restart the Function Discovery Resource Publication service (FDResPub) even though it is running.
Click to expand...
Yes, users have indeed written a scheduled task to 'wake' that service up in order to maintain the visibility.
Some have claimed that it has to do with the adapter going to sleep, others blame the order in which the systems boot.
Lots of rumors but no hard facts.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    All Branches but ReleaseAMD Ryzen 7 7735HS 3200-4500 Mhz 8 cores x 232 GB DDR5Radeon Graphic / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB...
    OS
    All Branches but Release
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Nitro ANV15-51
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS 3200-4500 Mhz 8 cores x 2
    Motherboard
    Sportage_RBH
    Memory
    32 GB DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphic / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB GDDR6
    Sound Card
    AMD/Realtek(R) Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Integrated Monitor (15.3"vis)
    Screen Resolution
    FHD 1920X1080 16:9 144Hz
    Hard Drives
    KINGSTON OM8SEP4512Q-AA 1TB
    Western Digital 256GB
    PSU
    19V DC 6.32 A 120 W
    Cooling
    Dual Fans
    Mouse
    MS Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    Fiber 1GB Cox -us & 1GB Orange-fr
    Browser
    Edge Canary- Firefox Nightly-Chrome Dev-Chrome Dev
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 BetaAMD A9-94208 GB of DDR4AMD Radeon R5
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Beta
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus X751BP
    CPU
    AMD A9-9420
    Memory
    8 GB of DDR4
    Graphics card(s)
    AMD Radeon R5
    Screen Resolution
    1600x900
    Hard Drives
    Seagate 1 TB
Win7ine said:
When these machines connect through WiFi/Wireless to the exact same private network they do show up in FileExplorer>Network.
However, when hardwired, Ethernet connected they disappear
Click to expand...
Sorry, no. I cannot reproduce that issue. Here's a machine on WiFi seeing and connecting to one on Ethernet.

1784221362694.webp

In fact, I've just uploaded and posted this next screenshot directly from the Ethernet connected machine while using the WiFi connected one from the first screenshot.

Screenshot 2026-07-16 175108.webp
Click to expand...
 

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System One System Two Other systems

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 HomeAMD Athlon Silver 3050U8GBRadeon Graphics
    OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23-R9VY
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD (from April 2026: 250GB EVO 850)
    Internet Speed
    150 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2, and 25H2 on 30th September 2025 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 25H2.

    UPDATE - 11 April 2026: due to mechanical deterioration this PC has been retired from active duty. The OS with all software and files has been migrated to my System Seven in 'Other systems' to carry on as my general purpose 'main machine'.

    I've now clean installed 25H2 and used Garlin's scripts to update Secure Boot to CA 2023 and revoke the PCA 2011 certificates. It's new role is to test secure boot issues.

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProIntel® Core™ i5-520M8GB(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround.

    In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround.
    Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.
    In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media.
    Upgraded to 25H2 by Enablement Package.

    Also running Insider Dev, and Canary builds and Windows 10 as native boot .vhdx.
  • My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 1TB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine. Updated to 25H2 on 30th September 2025.

    My SYSTEM SEVEN is a Lenovo Thinkpad T580, Intel Core i7-8650U, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD + 2nd 512GB NVMe SSD, a supported device for Windows 11. This is my current general purpose 'main machine'. The installed Windows 11 Home from my System One has been migrated to this machine.
Win7ine said:
The visibility of private networked machines in FileExplorer remains flawed
Click to expand...
Yes, the File explorer, Network section has been unreliable since Windows 10 Version 1709 / 1803.
I never even bother to look in the File explorer, Network section any more.

I use a set of shortcuts to my shared folders instead e.g. \\COMPUTER2\SHARED FOLDER1


Denis
 

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Windows 11 Home x64 Version 25H2 Build 26200....
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Windows 11 Home x64 Version 25H2 Build 26200.8037
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