By skyforbes Edge and all network services came back online immediately after reboot.
I examined the CBS.log to confirm what actually changed. There were no hardware or third-party driver errors and no rollback markers.
The log showed Microsoft-signed packages updating in this order:
Microsoft-Windows-Ethernet-Client-Intel-E1i68x64-FOD-Package → v 10.0.26100.6901
Microsoft-Windows-Ethernet-Client-Intel-E2f68-FOD-Package → v 10.0.26100.6901
Microsoft-Windows-Ethernet-Client-Realtek-Rtcx21x64-FOD-Package → v 10.0.26100.6901
Microsoft-Windows-Ethernet-Client-VMware-Vmxnet3-FOD-Package → v 10.0.26100.6901
Earlier .6899 and .6584 revisions were superseded and every new package completed with hr = 0x0 (S_OK).
The 6901 Servicing Stack Update includes re-signed Ethernet Feature-on-Demand components.
That implies Microsoft located a dependency or load-order bug in the previous stack that could block the network driver layer during servicing.
Third-party tools such as Surfshark or ASRock X-Fast LAN only exposed the symptom—they weren’t the root cause.
Once the SSU corrected the sequence, the update installed cleanly without changing hardware or registry settings.
So, if your Windows 11 system on build 26100.6899 failed updates or lost Ethernet connectivity during reboot, installing KB 26100.6901 (or newer) likely resolves it.
The fix appears to come from Microsoft’s updated servicing-stack and network FOD packages, not from user-side changes.
Anyone else notice their Ethernet or VPN behavior improve after 6901?