Windows 10, Version 1809. Network does not show computers

Disabling the trigger did not fix the issue here it is still broken on Windows10 2004

Hi Garth,

I think you misunderstood my intention in posting this. I'm not suggesting there is a problem with the router.

The problem we are all dealing with is the failure of recent versions of Windows 10 to see other computers on a network for the purposes of file sharing. My experiment demonstrated that a brief loss of network connectivity even though quickly restored may cause some computers on the network to no longer see others that they should be seeing. Running the task to re-start Function Discovery Resource Publication will fix it, but this only happens automatically at bootup, and if connectivity is lost for whatever reason it shouldn't be necessary to reboot all systems to restore it.

None of the concerns in this thread have anything to do with routers. The change was with Microsoft Windows updates and/or Windows 10 annual refreshes.  I'm sure the net discovery will populate those machines but in all reality, we here are not discussing if it might be a router concern mainly because it was and has been established to be a change in windows 10. We'd be best off focusing on windows to get this concern fixed.

Here is an experiment I just tried which yielded a result which I don't understand:

I had an explorer window open to Network on one of my systems. It was showing all of the computers which were currently running.

Leaving everything else running, I turned off my router, a Synology RT2600ac. Within seconds, all the computers disappeared from the explorer window, as would be expected.

I turned the router back on. After it finished re-booting, some of the computers re-appeared in the explorer window, but others did not, even an hour later. Why?

This could be key to understanding this issue, because it suggests that a brief loss of network connectivity causes some systems to stop Function Discovery Resource Publication, even though services.msc shows it is still running, while other systems continue to operate correctly.

Others have also reported that enabling remote desktop is a fix. However, I'm reluctant to enable this and leave it running, because I've read elsewhere that it is a security risk because it is easily hacked into.

My router has a hardware firewall, and I also have MAC address filtering enabled for the systems that are connected over Wi-Fi. I'm wondering if that is enough protection against this type of hack?

@Johnb3030, 

1. If restarting FdResPub manually makes your computer show up, that confirms that it is a timing problem.

Not showing user in this sample:

2. As for Remote Desktop enabled:

I think for security reason the discovery is set and triggered for private network only, also they would need a computer name and password the get into the remote connection, assuming you set it up that way.

Network Discovery is disabled for public networks. 

I know hackers are resourceful, but I never had a problem yet :-)

Anyway before I tried enabling Remote Desktop I used Task Scheduler to restart FdResPub, that was the first workaround that always worked fine for my affected machines too.

Good luck !

https://blog.netop.com/what-to-know-about-rdp-security