Windows 11 remote desktop frequent disconnects?

Question

Hello,

I have a laptop and a workstation that I frequently remote to lots of different clients servers. Most of the servers are Win 2012 R2 and one 2016. All of the servers have the latest Microsoft weekly updates. I never had any issues with Windows 10 but I decided to go all in and really test Windows 11. I've managed to get around many of the issues with Windows 11 but the one I can't seem to figure out is remote desktop. I'm connecting to them through a point to point VPN via the servers' IP addresses. Nothing has changed with my hardware firewall. Nothing has changed with my computer equipment.

I did a fresh clean install of Windows 11 and for whatever reason on the servers I will get disconnected and it wants to reconnect on another session.

Anyone with this issue find a solution?

I've noticed if I remote to PCs at those same locations (usually running Windows 10) I don't experience that issue so I'm thinking there is a compatability with the older Windows OS and Windows 11 remote desktop. I'm hoping there is a work around for this.

Answer 1

Hello there,

To work around this issue, you can enable the Configure keep-alive connection interval policy in the Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Connections group policy folder. If you enable this policy, you must enter a keep-alive interval. The keep-alive interval determines how often, in minutes, the server checks the session state.

Please check on the remote PC if there is group policy to set the RDP transport protocols as "Use only TCP". If so, please change it to "Use both UDP and TCP".
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Remote Desktop Services\Remote Desktop Session Host\Connections

Here are some links to help you out in this. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/remote/troubleshoot-remote-desktop-disconnected-errors

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/troubleshoot/rdp-client-disconnects-cannot-reconnect-same-session

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/230783/rdp-constantly-reconnecting.html

I hope this information helps. If you have any questions please let me know and I will be glad to help you out.

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Answer 2

What solved this for me, after scouring the Internet for solutions and trying everything I could, was this:

On Windows 10 or 11 press: "Win+X" to see a menu.

Choose "Device Manager". You see the Device Manager window.

Expand "Network adapters". You see a list of network devices.

Do this with each network device listed:

• Right-click to see a menu
• Choose "Properties" from the menu. You see a properties window.
• IF there's no tab called "Power Management", click "Cancel" and move on to the next network device listed.
• Click "Power Management". You see a check-box called "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"
• Remove the check-mark from that check-box.
• Click "OK"
• Repeat for the next network device listed.

Expand "Universal Serial Bus controllers"

For each device listed, repeat the above instructions to remove checkmarks from "Allow the computer to turn off..."

Answer 3

Thanks

It didn't have that value so I created a dword entry for it. I stayed connected for about 3 minutes. I did some more testing and it seems to disconnect after about 60 seconds of me not using the mouse in the remote session. Then I tested that theory and that isn't it either. It seems completely random although I do think that tip definitely helps.

Answer 4

I did but appreciate the question.