[BUG] Cowork Causes System-Wide Internet Disconnection on Windows 11 - Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Claude Cowork causing complete internet disconnection on my machine every time it is enabled.

SYSTEM SPECS

• OS: Windows 11 Pro (Build 26200, version 25H2)
• Wi-Fi Adapter: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201
• Claude Desktop: Latest version (verified today, 4/22/2026)
• WSL2: Installed and up to date (version 2.6.3)
• Hyper-V: Fully installed including management tools

WHAT HAPPENS
Every time I enable Cowork in Claude Desktop, within minutes my internet connection drops completely. The Wi-Fi shows as "Connected, Secured" in Windows but no browser or app can reach the internet. Other devices on the same network are unaffected.

When I run Get-NetIPInterface in PowerShell after enabling Cowork, two new virtual adapters appear:

• vEthernet (Default Switch)
• vEthernet (WSL - Hyper-V firewall)

These adapters are assigned very low interface metrics (as low as 5-15), which causes them to take priority over my physical Wi-Fi adapter, effectively hijacking all network traffic and dropping my internet connection.

The Wi-Fi adapter index also changes each time Cowork creates these virtual interfaces, making it difficult to apply a permanent fix via PowerShell.

STEPS I HAVE ALREADY TRIED

1. Manually setting Wi-Fi interface metric to 10 and disabling automatic metric management
2. Rolling back Windows update KB5079473 via recovery mode (required BitLocker key)
3. Installing Hyper-V Management Tools via PowerShell
4. Installing WSL2 version 2.6.3 fresh from Microsoft
5. Deleting vm_bundles and claude-code-vm folders from AppData to force clean VM rebuild
6. Restarting HNS and vmcompute services before enabling Cowork
7. Disabling unused network adapters (Local Area Connection 8 and Local Area Connection 10)
8. Running ipconfig /release, /renew, /flushdns and netsh winsock reset after each failure

None of these steps have resolved the issue. Cowork breaks my internet connection every single time it is enabled, without exception.

What Should Happen?

My internet continues to work while using cowork

Error Messages/Logs

vEthernet (Default Switch) and vEthernet (WSL - Hyper-V firewall) adapters created by Cowork are assigned interface metrics of 5-15, overriding physical Wi-Fi adapter and dropping all internet traffic. Wi-Fi shows "Connected, Secured" but no traffic passes. Interface index changes on each occurrence.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Claude Desktop (latest version) on Windows 11 Pro
2. Navigate to the Cowork tab
3. Click Enable Cowork
4. Click Restart Now when prompted
5. Wait 2-3 minutes
6. Attempt to load any website in a browser
7. Internet connection drops completely
8. Run Get-NetIPInterface in PowerShell to confirm new vEthernet adapters have appeared with metrics lower than physical Wi-Fi adapter

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude 1.3883.0 (93ff6c) 2026-04-21T17:24:01.000Z

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

_No response_