How To Resolve Hyper-V Network Dropouts on Broadcom Adapters

Why Does My Hyper-V Virtual Machine Keep Losing Network Connectivity?

Experiencing persistent network drops in your Hyper-V virtual machine can feel like a puzzle—especially if the host system seems stable. Typically, the first step is to verify whether the issue originates from the host machine itself. If the host is maintaining its connection without interruptions, then the culprit might be related to the virtual network configuration or the physical adapter used by Hyper-V, particularly when dealing with Broadcom network adapters.

However, if the host is also losing network connectivity, it’s usually a matter of rebooting your network device—like your modem, router, or switch—and making sure all cables are snugly connected. Sometimes, a simple restart resolves temporary glitches, but if the drops are frequent, it points to a deeper issue.

Troubleshooting Hyper-V Network Dropouts on Broadcom Adapter

When Hyper-V network dropouts happen specifically with Broadcom adapters, the process gets a bit more involved. These issues often relate to settings or driver problems that interfere with stability. Follow these steps carefully—because sometimes, fixing this takes a bit of trial and error.

Check if NetworkStateChangeTask is Running

One sneaky culprit is the Windows scheduled task called NetworkStateChangeTask. Its job is to toggle network interfaces, supposedly to optimize connectivity, but sometimes it kicks in at the wrong time and causes your NIC to drop the connection. To see if this is related, open the Task Scheduler—you can do this by pressing Win + R, typing taskschd.msc, and hitting Enter.

Then, navigate to Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > NetworkConnectivityStatusIndicator. Look for NetworkStateChangeTask. If you find it, right-click and choose Disable. On some setups, this task might be lurking under a different folder, so it’s worth a full search or even examining running tasks in the Task Schedule interface.

Disabling it can help prevent it from toggling your network interface unexpectedly. After that, do a reboot and watch for stability. Just beware—on some machines, this might not fix things at first glance, so keep that in mind.

Create Another Virtual Switch and Reassign It

Virtual switches in Hyper-V are the backbone of VM network connectivity. Sometimes, a switch can get corrupted or misconfigured. So, creating a new one can often kickstart fresh, cleaner connections.

Open Hyper-V Manager, find the Virtual Switch Manager in the right pane, and select New virtual network switch. Choose External (this shares your physical network interface directly with your VM), give it a meaningful name, and click OK.

Next, go into your VM settings, find the network adapter, and change its connected switch to this new one. Apply your changes, reboot the VM, and see if that helps. Sometimes, the existing switch might have glitches or conflicts—so, a fresh switch can clear that.

Disable Virtual Machine Queue (VMQ)

This is a classic—VMQ is designed to offload packet filtering to the NIC, boosting performance. But with Broadcom cards, especially older or driver-quirky models, VMQ can cause more trouble than it’s worth—leading to network instability or disconnects.

To disable VMQ, go to Device Manager (press Win + X, then select Device Manager), find your Broadcom network adapter, right-click and choose Properties. Navigate to the Advanced tab. Scroll through the list of properties to find Virtual Machine Queue or similar. Set its value to Disabled.

After doing this, restart your host machine. Yes, this might slightly reduce network throughput—especially if VMQ was providing some benefit—but if it’s stabilizing your connection, it’s worth the trade-off.

Use a Static IP Address

DHCP problems can sometimes cause your VM’s network to bark—especially if IP conflicts occur or DHCP leases aren’t renewing smoothly. Setting a static IP ensures your VM always has a predictable, consistent network address.

To do this, go to your VM’s network settings, open the network adapter properties, select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4), and choose Use the following IP address. Enter an IP outside your DHCP range—like 192.168.1.200—along with your subnet mask (usually 255.255.255.0), default gateway (your router’s IP), and DNS servers (your preferred ones or Google’s 8.8.8.8,8.8.4.4). This tweak has been known to stabilize flaky DHCP setups, especially in complex virtual environments.

Update Network Drivers

This might be obvious, but outdated or buggy drivers are the worst enemy of network stability. Broadcom drivers are notorious for releasing buggy updates, so it’s best to get the latest drivers directly from the manufacturer’s website (Broadcom Support Downloads) or your motherboard/vendor site if integrated.

In Device Manager, right-click your Broadcom network adapter, pick Update driver — select Search automatically for updated driver software — or manually download and install the latest driver. Sometimes, uninstalling the driver entirely, rebooting, and letting Windows reinstall the default driver can clear up weird issues. If you’re tech-savvy, you might even try rolling back to a previous driver version if a new update caused problems.

Final Thoughts

Dealing with Hyper-V network glitches on Broadcom adapters can be a pain—kind of weird, but these issues crop up often enough. Usually, it’s a combo of driver quirks, misconfigured settings, or Windows tasks interfering behind the scenes. Going through these steps—disabling problematic tasks, recreating switches, toggling VMQ, static IPs, and updating drivers—has saved me more than once. Takes a bit of patience, but eventually, most setups can be stabilized.

Just don’t forget to check Event Viewer for clues—like Event ID 11, which often hints at driver/controller errors. Also, keep your network drivers up to date and consider monitoring network health with tools like PingPlotter or similar for ongoing issues.

Pro tip: Always back up your VM network configuration before experimenting. And if all else fails, sometimes a clean reinstall of the driver or even a different NIC altogether can be the final fix.