Updating Store apps over slow connections

Recapping the posts that RC Primak made last week:

This may be a bit off-topic, but it has to do with Windows 10 updating of Windows Store Apps over a slow DSL connection.

How can the Windows Store download 75 MB And not get even 10 MB of that bandwidth applied toward one single update of a Store App?? I’ve had this happen nearly every time I try to do the Windows 10 Windows Store App updates over a slow AT&T DSL Internet Connection. It doesn’t happen on public networks. I have shared updating over my own network only, and I have used third-party WiFi analyzing tools and found no one is connecting to my home network other than myself. Is Microsoft ignoring the setting not to share updates with everyone on the Internet when I allow sharing only over my home network?

I measure my real bandwidth used with SoftPerfect Research’s Networx utility. Networx is also used to determine that on true broadband connections (1.5 MB/sec or better), such wastage of bandwidth is rare to nonexistent.

Regarding not respecting the Share Updates Over My Network Only vs. to anyone on the Internet:

It’s true! My Windows 10 Pro installation is not respecting my restriction. As long as the Share over My Network Only item is ticked, but the ability to upload updates to other computers is enabled, this restriction is being ignored. This changed behavior of the Windows Store updates began in December with the Cumulative Update for December 2015.

This change is so far only affecting my Windows 10 Pro laptop, not my Windows 10 Home tablet. On the tablet I have not enabled any sort of updates sharing, due to its processing limitations.

It appears that since the Cumulative Update, I can’t allow sharing of Windows Store updates over my local network without having my bandwidth used to share updates all over the world via the Internet.

I won’t risk more bandwidth wastage testing the more general Microsoft or Windows Updates for this change in the connection sharing settings behaviors. The user (Administrator) settings are definitely being ignored, at least for Windows Store Apps updates.

My PC to router connection is WIFi, not wired.

I have disable all updates sharing, and then only the bandwidth hogging absolutely ceases. I can now update my own Store Apps and I get full use of the bandwidth used for my own updates and nothing else unexpected.

This looks very suspicious!

Probably something they already have an answer for. But maybe a good idea to post so that they know about a potential issue. My interim solution was to use public broadband WiFi.

If the same siphoning off of some bandwidth for some non-updating use is indeed happening, over true broadband (say, 1.5 Mb/sec or better) the amount of the performance hit when downloading would be small enough so as not to be noticed by most people. It wouldn’t conspire to cause timeouts and endless download restarts on downloads over 12 Mb for Store Apps, the way AT&T DSL at my house is experiencing. No such timeouts ever occur with the main Windows Updates service. That updater is remarkably persistent! But it doesn’t have this kind of background chatter.

I did succeed in getting the Store Apps updated using public broadband WiFi. I also downloaded the ISO for the Windows 10 Pro Media Creation Tool. But then I found out that my laptop’s aging DVD burner was no longer up to the task. (USB media creation is not an option when the USB installer wants to use EFI Fast Boot. USB+EFI is not an option in my laptop’s BIOS.) Three “coasters” later, I am going to order a replacement DVD drive. This may be the final hardware replacement for that laptop. Time for a new 2-in-1 or somesuch.