Bridge disconnects ALL network access – NAS & internet

For years, I’ve been using Bridge/ACR to access & process files on my network attached storage (NAS). In early April, Bridge turned into a demon spawn - as soon as I direct it to view a folder on the NAS it kills all network access and hangs my machine. It completely clobbers any network traffic, internet too. Killing the process in Task Manager doesn’t work, the only way to recover is a hard reset. (Every other application or file explorer accesses the NAS/internet flawlessly - it is only Bridge/ACR that breaks the network on my machine. Sometimes it will hang on for a few minutes, which allows me to launch an image in ACR, but invariably it kills everything.)

Bridge works fine if I access files locally, and it also works fine if I run it over WiFi (although that is PAINFULLY slow). I’d really like it to get it working with the NAS again as that’s where all my files are. Keeping them locally has workflow, storage, and backup implications – especially if I get a backlog.

Currently running Bridge v13.0.3 on an updated Windows 11 machine. Have uninstalled/reinstalled Bridge. Have disabled Bridge startup scripts, set thumbnails to 100mb, and have disabled metadata and preview panels. Video and LAN drivers have been updated. Have tried a different ethernet port, and replaced the LAN cable.

I’ve read in this forum others who have had network issues with Bridge, and the common answers are “Bridge wasn’t intended to run over a network” and “stop using Bridge”, I’d really like to get back to using it over the network. Any new suggestions to try?