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I have a desktop computer at work with Windows 10 that I have to access remotely through Windows RDP frequently.

It works well usually: it responds to pings both through another local machine or a remote machine that is connected to the VPN, and RDP works too without a fuss.

But, many times, after not being used for a while (for instance, when I try to connect the next day after staying unused overnight), it stops being reachable: all ping attempts fail (both local and through VPN) and RDP does not work either. Starting a remote Power Shell interacting session does not work either when it usually does. After restarting the computer locally, it works again.

All energy-saving options are disabled: never suspend, never hibernate, never stop the hard disk, never shut off the screen, and the network adapter energy-saving options are also disabled (as suggested in the last post of this thread). I have physical access to the computer and I can attest that it does not go idle. I do not spot anything weird in the event viewer.

I have Windows 10 up-to-date, and I have also updated the drivers and the BIOS, to no avail. It does not always happen but it is very common. Sometimes, I try to remotely connect after not using the PC for days and it works, but usually, it just takes overnight and it cannot be accessed again.

Interestingly, TeamViewer always works. For some reason, when pings and RDP are not responding if I try to connect through TeamViewer it works, and then pings start responding again, RPD works, and everything is fine until the next period of time without using the PC. It is like TeamViewer somehow manages to "wake up" the computer.

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  • automatic suspend? maybe enable wake on lan?
    – Jasen
    Commented Nov 22, 2022 at 9:30
  • Suspend is disabled. I would try enabling wake on lan, thanks!
    – karmapolice
    Commented Nov 22, 2022 at 9:46
  • Try updating the network card drivers. Sounds like there's a bug in there that crashes the network card driver and that it doesn't accept new connections, but teamviewer connection was already there.
    – LPChip
    Commented Nov 22, 2022 at 11:02
  • They are already updated. Interesting point about new connections.
    – karmapolice
    Commented Nov 22, 2022 at 11:20

1 Answer 1

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Try changing in Power Options to the High performance plan.

My theory is that the computer goes to sleep, and while sleeping its DHCP lease expires, which is why the old IP does not work for ping etc.

TeamViewer does not work by IP, but by connection through its servers, so using it to connect causes the computer to wake up and establish a new DHCP lease or to publish itself on the network. It then becomes reachable.

Wake on LAN may also be a solution.

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  • It is in high performance, and when I access it physically it is never sleeping: leds indicate the computer is running, it works instantly, and the login screen is showing (no blank screen). How do the TeamViewer servers reach the computer, anyway? Is the client installed in my PC polling the servers frequently for connection requests?
    – karmapolice
    Commented Nov 22, 2022 at 10:18
  • Yes, the TeamViewer client does the connection and ensures that it stays alive across changes, which is why it works. The computer might be on, but some part of Windows or the hardware seems to be sleeping. If you can, have a look at the settings of the DHCP server which according to my theory is behind the problem. Try also in Power Options to set to Ultra high performance. You might also try a scheduled task that pings the router every few minutes, to announce itself.
    – harrymc
    Commented Nov 22, 2022 at 16:09
  • I am not using DHCP now that I think about it, it is a fixed IP set on Windows, but it might be similar. I will try all this anyway, thanks.
    – karmapolice
    Commented Nov 22, 2022 at 16:27

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