office 2021 activation blocked

so i was able to pinpoint the internet status of office is related to the Network Connection Status Indicator (NCSI) of microsoft .. i am trying to allow access to the servers of NCSI for everyone in my subnet . i added them to the web exception but it didnt work .. should i have a firewall rule for everyone to allow access ( other than the initial deny rule ) ? shouldnt the exception work for everything ??

please enlighten me

To redeem a new purchase

Step 1: Go to www.office_com/setup or Microsoft365_com/setup.

Step 2: Sign in with your Microsoft account, or create one if you don't have one. Be sure to remember this account so that you can install or reinstall Office later, without a product key.

Step 3: Enter your product key, without hyphens, if prompted. If you don't see the option to enter your product key, it was entered for you automatically.

Step 4: Follow the prompts to finish the redemption process.

Regards,
Peter

what are you talking about ? 

i need to allow access to all users to the servers of microsoft .. i already added it in the web exception but i suppose i will need an allow rule as well ?

what are you talking about ? 

i need to allow access to all users to the servers of microsoft .. i already added it in the web exception but i suppose i will need an allow rule as well ?

NCSI False "no internet" status

Microsoft NCSI is a Windows service that determines whether the computer is connected to the Internet.  If it thinks you are not connected, (Even though your are) Office 365 apps will not permit SIGN IN or Activate.

Sophos Firewall whether transparent or used with proxy settings may interfere with the TCP settings and the problem will not be apparent in Sophos FW logs, believe me, VERY FRUSTRATING, and not necessarily Sophos fault, but related to using a Sophos product. 

IMHO, Sophos Support Engineers should be aware of this possible issue and add it to their KB for customer support.

Office 365 Apps need to Activate when behind Sophos firewall (Transparent)

Root Article

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/59943/ncsi-false-34no-internet34-status.html

How to Disable - Fixes Windows Internet Status Indicator in task bar, so that Office will activate

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/lync/en-US/04cece81-3bd6-4f0d-9356-d26c2ffaa7ec/disable-ipv4-checksum-offload-from-command-or-script-on-windows-7?forum=w7itpronetworking

https://purepcs.co.uk/kb/microsoft-connection-test-ncsi-and-office-365/ - another article

QUICK FIX via windows GUI

OPEN Ethernet Adapter Settings, >  CHANGE > CONFIGURE > ADVANCED

IPV4 CHECKSUM OFFLOAD --- Change value to DISABLED

Not all adapters will have this setting, but it worked on one of our computers.

Good Luck >