A few months ago, I updated to the latest Windows 10 build, version 20H2 (notice the new nomenclature YYHX - YY being the year and X being 1 or 2 depending on which half of the year).
1. The Problem
Every so often, between one and three hours, the network connection would randomly drop with the status showing disconnected. As a temporary fix, I would open the network adapter options from the control panel (Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network Connections) and then disable and re-enable the adapter.
2. The Solution
It seemed that my laptop would turn off the network card to save power, following the most recent update. To disable this setting, navigate to the device manager (such as Win + x followed by m). Then, open up the “Network Adapters” section, right-click the appropriate NIC (network interface controller), and left-click “Properties”. Finally, navigate to the “Power Management” tab and deselect “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”.
3. The Process
Initially, I made sure to double-check my existing setup, such as resetting the router, updating the network card drivers and restarting my machine as required.
To eliminate the possibility of it being a network-wide problem, I checked with other devices, and they worked fine. So it became clear the problems were unique to my machine.
I had assumed the wireless connection was patchy, so I decided to invest in an ethernet cable. It seemed to have solved the problem for a day or two, but after those few days, the frequent disconnections returned.
After some digging around, I reverted the network card drivers and decided to mess around with the “Power Management” settings. Deactivating the option that allows the computer to turn off the network card remedied the connection issues. Doing some further research, some people have had to mess around with “Advanced” options such as disabling “Wake on Magic Packet”.