Cannot connect to Remote Desktop via wired internet connection through UD-ULTC4K

I have UD-ULTC4K I use to dock my surface book 2. I am unable to connect to my remote desktop using the wired internet cable on the dock. I receive the error “Remote Desktop can’t connect to the remote computer for one of these reasons…” I am able to connect using Wifi as well as a wired connection when not using the dock. I am also able to connect to the internet and my VPN SonicWall when using the wired connection through the dock, just not the remote desktop. I’ve downloaded all drivers I could find, resetting/ restarting everything, and working with my IT department but the issue remains. The current thought is that the issue is with the dock, can you help?

Hello Nicolas, thanks for posting! I am sorry to hear of this behavior.

Thank you for the description of the behavior you are seeing. Given that you aren’t able to even access the Internet when our dock’s Ethernet port is in use, there could be several different reasons. First, we’ll want to ensure that the DisplayLink software is in a good state by reinstalling the DisplayLink drivers and running the DisplayLink cleaner tool. To do so, please follow these steps:

  1. Disconnect the dock from the system and please remove the power cable from the dock so it turns off completely (this is important so the unit resets). Please keep it disconnected until the last step.
  2. Uninstall any and all software with ‘DisplayLink’ in the title that is present from within the Control Panel -> Programs and Features. Don’t worry if these entries are not present or if the process does not work, just move onto the next step
  3. Download, extract and run the DisplayLink cleaner tool, found here –> https://s3.amazonaws.com/plugable/bin…
  4. Once the Cleaner has been run, reboot (even if not prompted to)
  5. Now download and install the 8.4 M0 DisplayLink software, found here –> https://s3.amazonaws.com/plugable/bin…
  6. Reattach the power cable to the dock first. Once the dock is powered on, reconnect it to your system which will trigger the final portion of the installation

If these steps help, great! If not, can you let us know the status of the LED lights on the dock’s Ethernet port when a cable is connected?

Thank you,

David W.
Plugable Technologies
www.plugable.com/support

David,

I think you misunderstood my post. I am actually able to access the internet via the dock’s ethernet port. I can do everything access my work’s remote desktop. Does this change your recommendation?

Thanks,

Nic

Hi Nicolas, you’re correct I did misread thinking you were unable to access the internet. My apologies!

Certainly strange that you’re able to connect to the network via VPN but unable to remote into a system. Our dock doesn’t impact remote services and we have not encountered similar behavior before.

There could be a security aspect to this where the remote services are looking for a specific MAC address from your computer, but since the dock is in use the MAC address is different and the connection is rejected. In my experience, these are on the VPN level, but unsure here since not all network setups are the same.

You mention that you had worked with your IT department already, do you happen to know if they mentioned that they’ve checked any MAC address white list or other security permissions? Since everything works except for this one application we may not be able to identify the cause, but of course happy to investigate thoroughly.

Thank you,

David W.
Plugable Technologies
www.plugable.com/support