Solved: Why Is My PC Throttling My Internet Speed? Windows 10

Have you ever been angry at your computer’s severely slow internet speeds and wondered why your download and browsing speeds seemed limited? 

It is a widespread problem many users face, and understanding the factors that contribute to it can assist you in diagnosing and fixing the issue. Your computer may slow down your internet connection for several reasons, including hardware limits, software conflicts, network congestion, and even malicious software. 

By investigating these possible causes, you can take the steps necessary to restore the speed of your internet connection and reestablish uninterrupted online connections. Here, we will include a step-by-step guide to stabilizing your internet speed.

Why Is My PC Throttling My Internet Speed?

It is because of enabled peer-to-peer updates, excessive background apps, faulty DNS servers, misconfigured bandwidth settings, enabled large send-offload settings, Windows auto-tune, an enabled firewall, and outdated network adapter drivers. Internet connection speed also depends on your hardware.

If your hardware is not compatible or is old, then your PC will not be able to stabilize your internet speed. You must ensure that your hardware is current and that you use the most recent version of compatible hardware. 

Enabled Peer-to-Peer Updates

A feature in Windows 10 called “Peer-to-Peer Updates” enables your computer to download updates from other Windows 10 computers on your local network or the internet. While this function may be useful for quicker updates, it can also use up much of your internet capacity, slowing down your internet connection. 

This option consumes more internet resources than any other system program. It is because it consistently keeps checking the available updates for Windows.

Excessive Background Apps

Running programs in the background on your computer can consume network resources and cause your internet connection to become more sluggish. The amount of available bandwidth may be reduced because of the frequent use of the internet by certain programs to synchronize or update data.  

Some apps require the internet to work constantly in the background, consuming many internet resources and causing slow internet speed.

Faulty DNS Servers

DNS servers not operating correctly are responsible for converting domain names, such as www.example.com, into IP addresses your computer can understand. DNS servers that are either too slow or not functioning properly could be to blame for slower internet speeds. 

Misconfigured Bandwidth settings

With Windows 10, you can use the “Reserve Bandwidth” function to set aside some of your internet bandwidth to install system updates and other purposes. If the reserved bandwidth is set too high, there will be less bandwidth available for other programs, which will cause your internet connection to move at a more snail-like pace. 

Enabled Large Send Offload Settings

The “Large Send Offload” (LSO) feature offloads the segmentation of large data packets from the CPU to the network adapter to enhance network performance. Enabling LSO, however, might occasionally result in compatibility issues with specific routers or network settings, slowing down internet connections. 

Windows Auto-Tune

The “Auto-Tuning” feature found in Windows 10 is responsible for optimizing the TCP/IP network settings for improved performance. However, because of this function, internet speeds may occasionally be affected negatively.

The auto-tune sometimes forces the network to provide more packets to maintain the network performance but causes slow internet.

Enabled Firewall

Firewalls are necessary for securing your computer, but occasionally, they can be extremely limiting and slow down the internet. Ensure your firewall settings are set up correctly to let necessary network traffic pass through without extra limitations. 

If your internet speed doesn’t increase, check your firewall settings or turn it off briefly. To maintain security, however, use caution and re-enable your firewall afterward.

Outdated Network Adapter Drivers

Drivers for network adapters that are outdated or incompatible with other versions can cause a slew of connectivity issues, including a decrease in internet speed. It is necessary to ensure that the drivers for your network adapter are always up-to-date.

How To Fix PC Throttling Internet Speed?

You can fix it by peer-to-peer updates, exiting unnecessary background apps, changing your DNS server, adjusting network bandwidth service by disabling large send offload, disabling auto-tune feature, temporarily disabling the firewall, and updating the network adapter driver.

Peer-to-Peer Updates

You can fix this issue by turning off peer-to-peer updates. To do that, go to Windows settings using the start menu. Open “Update & Security” and go to “Windows Update.” Select “Advanced Options” to see if this function is activated. Select the delivery optimization from updates, and make sure the toggle switch is off.

Exit Background App

You have to exit the background processes to stabilize your internet connection. To do that, press “Ctrl+Alt+Delete” and then go to “Processes.” Here, you will find a list of all running apps. Select the unnecessary app and press “End Task.”

You can also disable the startup apps. These startup apps start with Windows and consume internet resources in the background. Go to the “Startup tab” in the Task Manager and select the unnecessary apps. Now click on disable to disable these apps. 

Change Your DNS Server

Try switching to a more dependable DNS server, such as Google DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) or Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1). Go to the Control Panel and then select “Network and Internet.” Here, go to “Network and Sharing Center.” Now, change the adapter settings to alter DNS settings.

 To input your desired DNS server addresses, right-click on your active network adapter and choose Properties. Search for Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) in the properties and open its “Properties.” Now select manual DNS and enter the above Cloudflare or Google DNS.  

Adjust Network Bandwidth Settings

You can adjust the bandwidth settings from the Window Settings. Select “Update & Security,” then you will be redirected to Windows Update. Here, select “Advanced Options” then “Delivery Optimization.” Open the “Advanced Options.” Here, you can adjust the bandwidth. 

Remember, adjusting the bandwidth may also decrease your internet speed. Therefore, always select the appropriate value while adjusting the bandwidth.

Disable Large Send offload LSO

You must change the network adapter settings to disable “Large Send Offload” (LSO). LSO is a feature found in modern network adapters that allows the TCP/IP network stack to construct a big TCP message of up to 64KB before sending it, which can increase network performance in specific situations. 

To disable large send offload, navigate to the Control Panel, Network and Internet, open Network and Sharing Center, Change the adapter settings, and disable LSO. Look for settings relating to LSO or large send-offload by selecting your active network adapter from the context menu and then choosing “Properties,” then go to “Configure” and select “Advanced.” If the feature is enabled, disable it.

Disable Windows Auto Tune Feature

Using the Command Prompt, the Auto-Tuning feature can be turned off. Enter the following command into the Command Prompt after opening it as an administrator: “netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled.” To make the modifications effective, restart your computer after running the command.

It will disable the Windows auto-tune feature and will save extra packet loss. As a result, your internet speed will be increased.

Temporarily Disable Firewall

It’s simple to temporarily disable a firewall, although the procedure varies depending on your operating system. Hardware compatibility can even affect your internet connection speed. Click the ‘Start’ button and type ‘Control Panel’ into the search box. Find ‘System and Security’ in the Control Panel and click on it. It should take you to another screen where you can select the “Windows Defender Firewall” option. Toggle this.

Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off using an option on the left side of the new window. The option to disable the firewall for private and public networks will then be presented to you. Select the relevant choices, and then click “OK.”

As soon as you’re finished with whatever prompted you to turn off the firewall, please remember to switch it back on. It is because your computer needs the firewall’s critical protection, and leaving it off could leave your system vulnerable to attackers.

Update Network Adapter Drivers

Install the most recent drivers by going to the company’s website that manufactured your personal computer or network device and searching for the most recent drivers compatible with your specific model.

You can also update drivers through Device Manager. Right-click on the start menu and then open “Device Manager.” Here, go to Network Adapter and right-click on the driver. Click on “Update” from the list. Select Automatic Update to download the latest drivers from the internet.

Conclusion

Several things, including enabled peer-to-peer updates, numerous background programs, problematic DNS servers, incorrect bandwidth settings, enabled large send-offload settings, Windows auto-tune, an enabled firewall, and out-of-date network adapter drivers, can slow down your computer’s internet connection. 

Your internet connection speed can even be affected by hardware compatibility. You can, however, do something to fix these problems. You can turn off background apps and peer-to-peer updates, change your DNS server to one that is more dependable, change your bandwidth settings, turn off huge send offload, turn off Windows auto-tune, temporarily turn off your firewall, and update the drivers for your network adapters. 

Your internet speed may increase, and your connection may be stabilized by doing these actions. If the issue continues, your PC might be unable to stabilize your internet speed because of obsolete or unsuitable hardware. You might need to update your hardware if that’s the case.