Limiting maximum throughput of bandwidth hogs?

[DELTAprime]

I have an ADSL internet connection that syncs at 16mbps so I don't have a ton of spare bandwidth. I have found that Microsoft's Windows 10 updates and Xbox downloads are bandwidth hogs and take up all available internet bandwidth preventing even web browsing from working on the same or other devices. Is there a way either in software or in my Asus RT-AC88U to limit how much bandwidth Microsoft's services have available to them to use?

 

[techgeek]

I seriously doubt that Windows 10 and the XBOX would create issues on your connection. Granted I have a 50Mbps down 10Mbps connection, but I have 6 Windows 10 computers (5 PC's, one laptop) that are on pretty much 24 / 7, an XBox One, XBox 360, PS4, PS3, 2X Wii, 2 Smart TV's, and 4 Samsung phones and my connection never gets bogged down. Not even when we are watching NetFlix on both TV's. My two son's are continually watching YouTube on their phones.

So I tihink you might have something else going on.

 

[DELTAprime]

No it is Microsoft's downloads. When a update is downloaded by Windows (I get them almost weekly because I'm in the Preview Program) it maxes out my internet connection as soon as it starts and when it ends I can use the internet again. And if I pause a download on Xbox which you can do with Xbox but not with Windows update the internet is usable again. If I look in the routers monitoring the Microsoft device is clearly taking all my bandwidth, same happens with Steam but I can limit Steam easily in the options which fixes the issue for that.

 

[techgeek]

This isn't a constant thing though? It would only happen once a week for a few minutes or so?

You might be able to set up QoS in the router, but typically this is for a device. Depending on the router, you might be able to throttle the connection via IP address and port.

Are you running Windows 10 Pro, if so, have a look at this link:

Schedule Windows 10 Updates

This shows how to schedule Windows 10 updates, so that you can set it up to not do them during the hours you are using the computer/ internet.

 

[DELTAprime]

It's every time a Windows Update or Xbox download starts. The Windows Preview Program downloads are normally a couple of GBs each week, Xbox downloads can be up to 80GBs for the largest games. I've set the Windows Update now to download at 1am, so that work around should work on my Windows 10 Pro PC.

This might be happening because here in Australia we have two large Microsoft data centres serving a country with the population of New York City so I'd imagine they have a ton of bandwidth per person. Only Microsoft and Steam downloads can do this to my connection and as I've said Steam has an option in it's settings to limit how much data it uses.

 

[techgeek]

Well now it's just the XBox that is the issue. You should be able to limit the XBox via your QoS settings in your router. Since it's a whole device in this case and not a specific application (like Windows Update), it should be easy.

 

[dudeman509]

Sounds like your router prioritizes things poorly. I have no problem web browsing while maxing out my Internet connection with downloads (Microsoft, Steam, Itunes, or otherwise), even from multiple computers.

 

[CoolWind]

I have this exact same router and was encountering the very same issue after I got my kids an XBOX One for Christmas. I thought QoS would work, but it seemed to have no effect, even when I set the Xbox to "lowest" and my main work computer on "Highest". The Xbox would still suck up all available bandwidth, eating 9.9mbps out of my 10mbps connection, making it almost impossible even to do email. I don't know why QoS was ineffective, but it didn't help one bit.

In my case, the solution was to go into the QoS tab of the Adaptive QoS page, and then select Bandwidth Limiter, and create a rule for the Xbox. I set the Xbox limits to 2mb down and 1mb up, added the rule, and clicked apply. Instantly, performance on all my other network devices improved dramatically. As I write this, my wife is Facetiming our daughter at college, my son is streaming music, and the Xbox is doing yet another massive update, but nobody is complaining (for a change)! Hope this works for you!