WOL help

[JustCallMeStevePlease]

Hey, I'd like some assistance with Wake on LAN. I find the Windows device manager settings a bit confusing. I can send the magic packet no problem, and it reaches the target machine without fault, however, I have noticed WOL just straight up doesn't work sometimes. As you probably know, and can see on the image below;

You can only have the "Allow this device to wake the computer" setting turned on if you also check the "Allow this computer to turn off this device to save power"

This confuses me, as I'd expect the logical thing would be to disallow the PC to turn off the network adapter, while allowing it to wake the computer, no? What is the actual correct way to allow WOL? What should I have checked in and what not?

Thanks in advance!

[johnt]

Windows doesn’t allow WOL when your system is shut down. Your PC has to be in sleep mode for WOL to turn it on consistently. Your settings on this screen are correct. 

[JustCallMeStevePlease]

26 minutes ago, johnt said:

Windows doesn’t allow WOL when your system is shut down. Your PC has to be in sleep mode for WOL to turn it on consistently. Your settings on this screen are correct. 

Thanks for the info. I have some questions still, since I have fast boot turned off, my system should go to S5 on shutdown, and I also believe my motherboard supports WOL from S5. The problem is that sometimes I can wake the PC, sometimes I cannot. If the settings in the OS are correct, what else could cause this behaviour?

[Kilrah]

BIOS settings. Usually there are 2 places, one in the NIC settings to allow it, and another one to allow the NIC to stay powered on. Also many boards will not WoL after a power loss until the next POST so if you cut power to the whole PC don't. 

[JustCallMeStevePlease]

1 minute ago, Kilrah said:

BIOS settings. Usually there are 2 places, one in the NIC settings to allow it, and another one to allow the NIC to stay powered on. Also many boards will not WoL after a power loss until the next POST so if you cut power to the whole PC don't. 

Thank you for the answer. I believe my BIOS settings are correct. I have found these as well and set them accordingly. I have used the WOL feature from S5 before, but it just doesn't work all the time. The power loss thing is interesting, but I believe my power had no problem, since I have a server running too, currently on 173 days of uptime. UPS is set to alert me on power loss, so if I had a blackout, i'd know.

[johnt]

1 hour ago, JustCallMeStevePlease said:

If the settings in the OS are correct, what else could cause this behaviour?

It’s literally windows causing this issue. I’ve been dealing with it for years. Set your PC to sleep and see how consistently it works. Windows 8 changed WOL behavior and windows 10 was the nail in the coffin. WOL is not supported in S4 and S5 states since windows 8, even if your hardware supports WOL in S5 state. Windows puts the NIC in D3 when you trigger shut down no matter your WOL settings. 
 

WOL is reliably supported only from S3, which is triggered by sleep mode in windows (and sometimes S4 in hibernate mode but not reliably).

[johnt]

Follow up link: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-client/setup-upgrade-and-drivers/wake-on-lan-feature

 

They claim it’s for power consumption. Since Windows is too stupid to differentiate between a mobile device with a battery and constant power, the WOL feature was nerfed.