Windows 11 update 24H2 changes network access

Good aftternoon! Good to hear some news about this. I am going to live with whatever it is for now I am sure there will be a fix eventually. In the meantime I finally found the way to get off the Insider Program. On to November general update. We will see.

Hi

Well well. I always thought that a setting was a setting which once set was set. Apparently not with MS!

So, @fg2001 and @StanPolitowski, thank you both for your hints. I tried setting the network profile on my 24H2 machine to public. Suddenly I can see the other machine (HomepC which is on 23H2) under Network. On HomePC I set profile to Public and then private again. No change for the worse. Return to 24H2 machine and set profile back to Private. Still, I can see HomePC even after restart. But this should be the same as where we started - but it's clearly not!

In summary, temporarily setting the networks to public and then back to private again seems to have sorted out the issue I had of not being able to see other network devices from my 24H2 computer. I still need to use the FDResPub restart batch file occasionally to bring the host PC name back under Network.

Concerning the Netgear USB Readyshare issue, this uses basic SMB1 - something that MS have warned us not to use for years. So, whereas this has not been a problem up to 23H2, the lack of visibility of this under Network in 24H2 appears to be the result of MS steps towards making SMB1 unusable. I can still map the USB as a share, so it's not the greatest loss.

Here is the MS explanation for using Private or Public network. Confusing as MS usual.

To me the home network is the Private case. 😉

Make a Wi-Fi network public or private in Windows - Microsoft Support

When you first connect to a Wi-Fi network in Windows 11, it’s set as public by default. This is the recommended setting. However, you can set it as public or private depending on the network and what you want to do:

• Public network (Recommended). Use this for networks you connect to at home, work, or in a public place. You should use this in most cases. Your PC will be hidden from other devices on the network. Therefore, you can’t use your PC for file and printer sharing.
• Private network. Your PC is discoverable to other devices on the network, and you can use your PC for file and printer sharing. You should know and trust the people and devices on the network.

This explanation below makes more sense to me:

Public network = Your device is not discoverable on the network. By default, the public network location type is assigned to any new networks when they are first connected. A public network is considered to be shared with the world, with no protection between the local computer and any other computer. Therefore, the Windows Firewall rules associated with the public profile are the most restrictive. This blocks the following apps and services from working: PlayTo, file sharing, network discovery, and automatic setup of network printers, TVs, and other devices.

Private network= Your device is discoverable on the network. Select this if you need file sharing or use apps that communicate over this network. You should know and trust the people or devices on the network.

Domain network = The domain network location type is detected when the local computer is a member of an Active Directory domain, and the local computer can authenticate to a domain controller for that domain through one of its network connections.

Thanks @fgf2001. I will give the public profile a try and report back tomorrow.

Hi,

Not sure if it will make any difference, but you can try and see if it helps or not.

I switched back all my PCs to Private network profile, and everything still works fine on my home setting. 👍😉🤷‍♂️

I did see with some amazement that PUBLIC was the new RECOMMENDED setting. No reason for this in my opinion and my little villa here with 3 computers. As of the moment now, I thought I could force connect 24H2 with both 22H2 machines. This works 25% of the time. Then there is one of the 22H2 machines that does not network with the other 22H2 machines but does fine with the 24H2. So I freaking give up. MS broke it I hope they fix it soon. Nothing seems to have what is called sustained connectivity. In short the only Windows 10 computer that is working correctly seeing the entire network is running 22H2 19045.5011. The rest of mine are hit and miss. I have tried EVERYTHING.

@StanPolitowski,

I read somewhere that with public network profile they enforce stricter security. But it doesn't make much sense on my home network.

I can see the point for a laptop that you carry around and may connect on a public place, but my home network is behind my router which already has a firewall.

I wish they had a better explanation on the reason they recommend a public network profile at home. Doesn't make any sense to me. 🤷‍♂️

Anyway, this is my current home network, a mix of Windows 11 24H2, 23H2 Public and Insider, and one Windows 10 19045.5070.

I got "File and printer sharing" now working fine with every one of those PC's.

I already showed earlier all the problems I found and worked around each issue.

Let us know when you find a solution for your problems that seem to be quite different than the ones I got. 😵‍💫🤷‍♂️

Cheers!

Edit:

I switched all the PCs back to Private network profile, and everything still runs fine in my home network as I expected. 😉😂🤷‍♂️