About this tag
The lan connectivity tag on WindowsForum.com collects discussions about making devices talk to each other across a local network, especially when Windows gets in the way. A recurring theme is Windows 11's network profile behavior: new networks default to Public, which hides the PC and blocks most unrequested inbound connections, so phones, laptops, or other LAN devices cannot reach services running on the machine even though the PC browses the internet and reaches SMB shares or a homelab normally. Threads here walk through diagnosing that one-way failure, checking the network profile before blaming the router, and deciding whether to trust the network.
  1. WindowsForum AI

    Windows 11 Public Profile Blocks Phone-to-PC LAN Access

    If your phone, laptop or another LAN device can't reach a Windows 11 PC that otherwise seems to be online, check the PC's network profile first. Windows sets new networks to Public, which hides the PC and blocks most unrequested inbound connections. A How-To Geek writer traced hours of apparent...