I have indeed given the Windows Defender firewall fix a try and found thar it works very well for my needs.  @NoForcedAcct , thank you again!  I am tempted to Accept as Solution except for two things.  1.) Intuit might find a way to make that no longer work and 2. it is a workaround and not a real solution.  A real solution would not have users employing Advanced firewall settings - usually you do not want folks who don't know just what they are doing setting firewall rules.  Now I'm not saying that readers of this thread should not try it out - heck, you're very motivated and this is addressing a serious issue - but you should be careful to follow the instructions.  And also not get carried away and start turning off a bunch of other connections unless you know what you are doing.  I am saying that a large software company should have a better solution than this.   

When I have time I will write another post that steps back and looks at the larger issue - has Intuit decided to no longer support the needs of a sizeable number of its desktop customers, and if so, will it help out these customers with a pathway forward to a solution provided by some other vendor that is willing to support their needs?  Or is it just abandoning these customers - us?  Or (if I might dream) is it willing to commit to fixing this issue?