Yeah exit nodes can be lots of effort(probably, never ran one) but relay nodes do get issues. Some banks do outright block any nodes that run tor, regardless of the exit node or relay node status.

Random idea, continuously ping the router from the laptop so it doesn’t “forget” that the laptop exists on the WLAN?

(I know you mention the laptop can still reach out when you try, but maybe the trick is to keep having traffic to-from the laptop continuously)