Windows 11 Public firewall rule

Question

Hello GPO Guru.

I am running into a FW rule that I don't really know how to explain, and I don't know how to create GPO for this FW rule.

Our Environment:

AD = 2016 Forest Mode.

Windows Defender GPO settig:

Domain OFF (disable)

Private "Not Configured"

Public "Not Configured"

We have a Wireless projector that we want to mirror our Windows 11. To achieve that, we create an inbound rule to allow Windows 11 and the wirelless projector to communicate to each other.

This is our problem.

when we create an inbound rule using "Windows Defender Firewall with Advance Security" in Control panel to create the inbound rule for the public profile, the rule does not work, and Windows 11 could not connect to the wireless projector.

But if we create the same FW rule using "Local Policies Editor", somehow the rule is applied and our Windows 11 can communicate with the wireless project, and we can mirror our windows 11 to the projector.

Does anyone has any idea what the difference between is creating FW rule using Windows Defender FW console vs. using Local Group Policy Editor?

Thanks in adance for your help.

Answer 1

Hi Brichardi,

The difference lies in the scope and enforcement of the rules.

In your case, it seems like the Group Policy might be overriding or conflicting with the rules set in the Windows Defender Firewall console. This could explain why the rule works when set in the Local Group Policy Editor but not when set in the Windows Defender Firewall console https://community.spiceworks.com/t/disabling-specific-local-firewall-rules-via-gpo/951871

To resolve this issue, you might want to consider managing your firewall rules using Group Policies, especially if you’re working in an Active Directory environment https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/operating-system-security/network-security/windows-firewall/configure

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