Update: The new Dell laptop was a gift. Once at the recipient's location, Windows Update was able to connect and everything seemed to work fine. Unfortunately, I was unable to do much testing due to the chaos of the holidays.
However, when the problem occurred, the internet connection was going through an edge router lite using DNS servers of 8.8.8.8 and/or 1.1.1.1. The private IP subnet was given out by DHCP in the 10.0.x.x range and a subnet of 255.255.0.0.
When the problem did NOT occur, the internet connection was going through a TP Link router then a cable modem. Both were using NAT. The modem was 192.168.0.x and 255.255.255.0 and the router was 192.168.1.x and 255.255.255.0 or vice versa. I'm not sure of the DNS servers used. I assume those provided by Optimum cable provider, but will update if or when I find out.
FWIW, hope this helps in some way.