A short one this time…

Have you ever had an issue with Windows Firewall blocking your pings on a network using Public profile, although the “File and Printer Sharing” exception is enabled for this profile?
(oh, yes, and don’t you dare to say that Windows Firewall should be disabled by default! )

So, this is what I’m talking about:

As you see in the previous picture, the exception is enabled for both profiles (this PC is not domain-joined, but it would be the same with domain-joined PC on a network which is using the Public profile). When I try to ping it, I’m getting the standard “Request timed out.” message. Why is that? Is this a feature or bug?

Well, I’ve deliberately left-out two things:

• if I try to ping my machine from the same subnet, the ping is passing through
• if I try to ping my machine from the different subnet (routing is all set and working OK, in case you’re wondering), the ping is not passing through

The security feature that enables this kind of behavior is set in Windows Firewall by default – by default, Windows Firewall allows ping (and other traffic) only from the Local subnet, for all networks that use the Public profile. Of course, you may want to change this in certain scenarios (and you can… easily).

This is yet another thing that should be kept in mind during troubleshooting, right? (hope it helps)

Have a great weekend!