Network Timeout on 'vagrant up' - Win 8.1 Homestead Virtualbox - check that Win Firewall is off

On VM boot, failed repeatedly with network timeout issues after successful SSH key set. So, VM is up but networking has failed. Windows 8.1 Pro, Avast, Advanced SystemCare 10 (free version) for auto-cleanup.

Tried the standards, restart, upgrade version of VirtualBox, Homestead, etc. NAT adapter in Virtualbox is settings for network adapter 0.

Went into network settings and found that Windows Firewall had turned itself back on! Turned off, no restart needed, VM fired up and was able to connect network. Solved!

So, for those like me who are just trying to find their way through this sea... If you get a network timeout on vagrant up, check if Windows Firewall turned itself on. Turn it off. Virtualbox networking doesn't seem to play nice with Windows Firewall. Perhaps there's someone who knows a better fix while keeping Win Firewall on. So, use another Firewall like Avast or Comodo instead of the Win default. Of course, an auto-update likely turned the firewall back on without my knowledge.

Also, make sure you check in the network settings within Virtualbox that the cable connected checkbox is 'checked' on the 1st network adapter settings (probably NAT). Sometimes, by default Virtualbox has 'cable is connected' as 'unchecked'. This is pretty well known but worth mentioning if you're using Virtualbox on Windows. 'Cable Connected' Needs to be checked, toggle down the advanced tab. Only checkbox there.

Hope that helps some one. If anyone has a better approach, please advise!