ethernetmacosNetwork
I have configured the Hot Corners as shortcuts for "Put Display to Sleep" and "Start Screen Saver".
Both work as expected, but when the monitor stops, the Ethernet connection is lost and I'm forced to disconnect and reconnect the Ethernet adaptor from the laptop.
How can I solve this frustrating inconvenience?
Yes
You can edit the connection and under the login settings you can untick the Reconnect automatically if disconnected box. You can configure this in the Default.rdp file or alternatively in each connection if you save separate rdp files. However, as far as I am aware it will only worked if you have saved settings for that particular machine/server.
Realised I answered a dupe of this here: How can I download something with display turned off (Ctrl+Shift+Eject)?
My answer to that question below:
I always use this combo as well, however this does not immediately sleep my machine in ML.
I believe this is a separate issue at play here. According to Siracusa's ML review, unlike in previous OS X versions, in 10.8 your system is eligible for sleep immediately upon "user inactivity" (the inactivity delay being set in your energy saver settings) unless the currently running apps make "power assertions".
In this case, that key combo is signalling to the OS that "user inactivity" should be triggered right away. In such a case, if your particular app that's downloading stuff does not make power assertions, your system will sleep.
I have come across the same issue generally (not necessarily related to triggering the screen sleep combo). See: Mountain Lion sleeps too aggressively
Best Answer
It seems that you can stop this behavior by preventing your machine from sleeping after screen lock:
System Preferences / Energy SaverPower Adapter, checkPrevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is offNow my Ethernet connection stays connected!