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I'm running into an unusual issue where at seemingly random times, my Windows 11 Pro machine will disconnect from the Ethernet connection. When I look under Network & internet > Ethernet, it shows my Ethernet connection requiring action. To the right of the connection name, there is a 'Sign in' box near the expand category arrow.

I understand this type of Ethernet sign in is common for a Windows 11 Enterprise OS, but not for a Windows 11 Pro OS. Why am I getting this odd issue on my machine Windows 11 Pro machine? I don't even have sign in credentials setup for an Ethernet/Domain sign in outside of the Windows login.

Specs
Edition: Windows 11 Pro Version: 23H2 OS build: 22631.3447 Experience: Windows Feature Experience Pack: 1000.22688.1000.0 Device: Dell Precision 5470

Dell Puck Adapters for ethernet connection for some devices on the switch.

Additional Information:
This is an physical Ethernet wired connection. If I click the sign in button, it says it's doing some type of authentication but just hangs. It never resolves the issue from the sign in option. After I click cancel, the issue will eventually resolve on its own at some point, usually within 10 minutes. This happens regardless of clicking the sign in option or not. However, some days it wont happen at all. Some days it will happen 4 or 5 times at seemingly random intervals.

This is on an organizational domain network and my computer is the only one I am aware of experiencing this issue. I work in the IT department here an haven't come up with any answers from the more senior IT staff or from online research.

Screen shot of Ethernet sign-in

RESOLUTION:
So interestingly, I discovered the issue and it wasn't what I expected. We make use of Dell Puck Adapters for connecting some of our devices to ethernet via USB-C thunderbolt. In this odd case, some of the Pucks were actually DOSing the Ethernet connection at the dumb switch. I don't know the exact reason yet, but in this case at least two of these Pucks were actually blocking the throughput to the other switch ports. My guess is that is that they were some how poisoning the ARP table of the dumb switch.

The reason I suspect this to be the cause is due to troubleshooting each Puck connected to the switch, one at a time. By removing the Pucks one at a time until the network returned to a working state, I then re-applied the Pucks until the network stopped working again. Not all the Pucks were causing this issue. Actually, of about 20, only 2 were causing this issue.

I think this might have something to do with the MAC passthrough being activated on the devices using the Pucks for Ethernet connections. Though, these same Pucks still caused the issue once they were reconnected to the network, even when no device was connected to them.

In either case, it has been a week now and the issue has not returned.

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  • It's not "common" for an OS, it is a configuration for a given type of network, and in order to connect, that OS will then need to be able to pass the required credentials to the network. Is this a physical network cable connection, or a wireless connection? I'm assuming physical network cable, but please confirm. When you see the Sign in message, are you able to sign in? What do you do in order to get a connection reestablished?
    – music2myear
    Commented May 22 at 20:41
  • Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking.
    – Community Bot
    Commented May 22 at 20:42
  • @music2myear This is an physical Ethernet wired connection. If I click the sign in button, it says it's doing some type of authentication but just hangs. It never resolves the issue from the sign in option. After I click cancel, the issue will eventually resolve on its own at some point, usually within 10 minutes. This happens regardless of clicking the sign in option or not. However, some days it wont happen at all. Some days it will happen 4 or 5 times at seemingly random intervals.
    – mmaynard
    Commented May 23 at 14:41
  • Please add this, and any other information commentors request or answers to questions they post, as edits to the question. Your goal right now is to make your question as clear and complete as possible, because a good, clear, thorough question is more likely to attract good answers.
    – music2myear
    Commented May 23 at 15:03
  • Your computer is misinterpreting some signal from the network host (probably the router on your network). Do you have any other computers connected to the wired network? Are they exhibiting these or any other network connection issues? If this is your home network and you own the router, reset the router, check for firmware updates for the router, make sure it's config is OK. If you lease or borrow your router/modem from your ISP, speak with them.
    – music2myear
    Commented May 23 at 15:05

1 Answer 1

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Here's your troubleshooting path:

Because the problem is happening on a single computer in a multi-computer environment, the issue is not systemic to the network. The remaining options are the specific network path/port and the computer.

First, plug the computer into a different jack in the wall. Does the problem happen again?

  • No: The network wiring to the port or the port in the wall or the port in the patch panel or switch are bad and that path should be tested and repaired.
  • Yes: The problem is not with the port, but could be with the switch still. Plug the computer into a jack that goes to a different switch and repeat this test. If the problem is fixed there's some incompatibility between the specific switch and the specific computer. Good luck. If the problem persists, the problem is with the computer, proceed with the next step here.

Second, connect a USB NIC to the computer and use this to connect to a known-good network port. Does the problem persist?

  • No: the problem is with the computer NIC or driver. Update the driver and if the problem persists, pursue hardware/warranty service or replacement.
  • Yes: the problem is with the computer OS. Reimage the computer.

If the problem persists after a reimage, it may be a computer firmware/hardware fault, so pursue warranty service or replacement.

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