When SU9 released I was having connection issues like crazy. What I notice is that whenever MSFS gets updated that the updated executable resides in a folder that is named per the game version, in other words the directory changes and thus any firewall rule that was present isn’t being updated. In troubleshooting my connection issues, I noted that there were 5 separate firewall rules for MSFS and in checking them noticed that none of them pointed to the game any longer. What I did then was manually add the game in a custom firewall rule with the proper directory pointing to the 1.25.7.0 executable. As soon as I did this my connection issues went away. Before I did this, I was getting poor streaming quality along with bandwidth too low warnings and even eventually losing online functionality all together.
The following directory isn’t for everyone, hence the F drive location. I have MSFS installed on another drive, other than the OS drive.
F:\WindowsApps\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_1.25.7.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\FlightSimulator.exe
The folder changes names with every update to reflect the version number. For instance, with the current version it is Microsoft.FlightSimulator_1.25.7.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe. This will change next update. There have been updates in the past where upon launching the game I would get a new prompt to allow it through the firewall but these prompts stopped coming a few versions back, hence the 5 separate fire rules. I actually had to take partial ownership of the directory in order to even browse it to locate the executable. This probably isn’t everyone’s cup of tea to do and it wasn’t mine either, I was hesitant at first with changing any permissions due to how the MS Store version manages permissions in the first place.
Ultimately, what I ended up doing was doing a whole firewall rule reset back to defaults and then allowing what I needed allowed by okaying any prompts I got later, MSFS included. This is probably the better way to go than having to mess with folder permissions, especially for people using the MS Store Version, plus it’s overall good PC security practice to refresh your firewall exclusions over time.
Hope this information helps others with any connection issues they are having. Especially if their internet connection and network hardware tests fine but they are getting connection issues in MSFS. Perhaps in the future Asobo and/or MS will address this but from now on I will just being checking the firewall policy and deleting the MSFS entry or doing a whole reset again when MSFS gets another update.
Cheers!