Windows 10 Update blocks my Internet connection completely

Question

I always thought that Windows update is somewhat reluctant when it comes to network bandwidth, and runs at low priority.

Not so on the update it installed today, I have to say that my DSL line only delivers 6MBit/s, but this is enough for normal surfing. However, today I installed KB3172985 on one of my Win10 machines, and it ate up all the available network ressources, even on other computers in my network, normal surfing was near to impossible. That update was some Gigabytes huge, and I really wonder if there is a good way to force Microsoft Update to use only bandwidth when there is some left.

Any ideas how to make Windows only use bandwidth when there is some left?

Answer 1

Windows update uses BITS to download the update files. You may try to use the bitsadmin tool to edit the priority of the download jobs.

C:>bitsadmin /SetPriority myDownloadJob LOW

For detailed information, please refer to this link.

Also, the powershell command can do the same job.

Set-BitsTransfer

If you need to limit the download bandwidth accurately, please try to use the following group policy：(I've tried it before and it works perfectly for me.)

BITS – More Flexible Bandwidth Limit Policies

Answer 2

This seems to me to be a major bug in Windows 10. But you can stop Windows Update to recover your internet connection. If you go to Network & Internet in Settings, then WiFi, then click Advanced Options, you can set the network as a metered connection to stop Windows Update. I suggest you do this temporarily so that you can actually use the internet.

Here is a link to the issue in the Windows Feedback app, if you want to upvote it:

Windows-Feedback:?contextid=158&feedbackid=5a20e472-d39b-4b92-b291-0a7301c14621&form=1&src=2

(Paste it into Edge)

Update

I've started noticing my internet connection being ruined even when Windows Update is not updating. In the task manager, it shows Service Host: Local System using up all my bandwidth. I tried going to Start > All apps > Windows Administrative Tools > Services, finding Background Intelligent Transfer System, right clicking it and clicking Stop. This stopped svchost using up all my internet. (I couldn't try the metered connection trick on this computer as it's connected via ethernet to a range extender)

Not only is it my computer on which the internet becomes unusable, but every other device on the network. I don't know how Microsoft have achieved such a horrific bug.

Update #2

This might not just be a problem with Windows Update and the Background Intelligent Transfer System. It looks like other background processes are also hogging bandwidth, e.g. I'm currently updating Adobe Photoshop and the Adobe Installer process is using pretty much everything, and web browsing has slowed right down (although not as badly as when the former two are downloading stuff).

Answer 3

After that problem persists, especially with the 1607-update that is coming these days, I finally figured out a solution that allows you to limit the bandwidth - if you want to fiddle with the registry, you can copy-paste the following in a reg-file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\BITS]
"EnableBITSMaxBandwidth"=dword:00000001
"MaxTransferRateOnSchedule"=dword:000007d0
"MaxTransferRateOffSchedule"=dword:000007d0
"UseSystemMaximum"=dword:00000000

Note that dword:000007d0 is an example only, which in this case limits the download bandwidth to 2000 KiloBit per second (2000 == 0x7d0), you can enter any other value here to fit your personal needs.

Not as nice as things used to be with Win7 update, which, as we all know, was very reluctant in consuming bandwidth, but used all available if there was no other traffic, but at least a good point to start from if you plan to use your internet connection on any device in your network while Windows updates are being downloaded.

The reason why Microsoft changed that once perfect behaviour is totally unclear to me, but I can live with that workaround.