Internet

So you can control and limit Internet traffic in Windows

The actions to control and limit Internet traffic do not require the installation of a third-party program, we can do it directly with the tools integrated in the Windows 10 operating system. We can know how much bandwidth we have consumed, the amount that corresponds to each application and even monitor it in real time.

View and control network traffic in Windows 10

The first thing we have to do is go to Start Menu, we wrote Setting and click on enter. Then we will see a screen like the following one, where we will choose the option Network and Internet.

Once this is done, on the left we select the section Condition. In this section we are going to obtain information on consumption by Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet network from our computer. Here you will inform us of how much our consumption has been on the Internet in the last 30 days. With a simple glance, we will see how much we have consumed in total in each of the interfaces, provided they have been used. In this case it refers to data traffic in Windows 10 used by Ethernet network cable on my desktop PC.

Here you can see that the consumption has been 6.38 GB on the Ethernet interface in the last 30 days. In this case, as it does not have a Wi-Fi adapter nor has it been used, that option does not appear.

On the other hand, not all programs need to consume the same bandwidth, and only a few use the most. Thus, if we press the button Use of data We will see the data that each program has consumed in the aforementioned period.

As we mentioned before, this would be our data traffic in Windows 10 in a period of 30 days. However, the situation could arise that we want to start from scratch at a given moment. We could also do that, but for this we would have to go all the way to the bottom, where the last program is located and we will see a screen like the following:

Here, to start counting our traffic from scratch we will press the button Reset usage statistics. On the other hand, if you are curious about how it would look on Wi-Fi, you can do it by seeing this screenshot of my laptop:

The way it works is identical, in the same section Condition of Network and Internet we can do exactly the same.

So you can limit data traffic

Currently, on many occasions we can use our smartphone as a Wi-Fi access point to connect our computer or laptop to the Internet. This is usually very common during the holidays, or because we have to work outside the home or office. Also, in some places such as airports they offer us a lot of data, and we do not want to spend it all at once. In addition, today most mobile rates, if you exhaust your data voucher, they drastically reduce the connection speed. In that sense, only the most expensive rates include unlimited data and running out of it is not a good option because we could do very little in a fluid way.

In Windows 10 allows us to put a limit on our consumption to fix that problem. To do this again we would follow these steps Start Menu, Setting, Network and Internet, Condition. Then we choose Ethernet or Wi-Fi, depending on the connection method that we are going to use and press the button Use of data.

If we want not to exceed a certain data traffic in Windows 10, then we will click on the button Specify limit. Next, we will see a configuration screen where we can set our stops:

Here we would have to talk about three sections:

  1. Limit type: refers to the time to be applied. It can be every month or only once. When we choose “No limit” we will see how the data limit section will disappear, let’s say it is to convert an unlimited connection.
  2. Day of the month for reset: here we have to select the first day of the month where all our mobile data of the rate is renewed. The best way to find out is usually by consulting your operator’s mobile app or an invoice from your mobile operator.
  3. Data limit: here you would put the maximum amount of data that you intend to spend.
  4. Unit: we can choose between MB and GB depending on what suits you best at all times.

The danger of background data

Windows 10 usually has certain functions and tools active on the network constantly. Having software constantly running on background It can affect both Internet consumption and performance, especially if the computer is low on resources. If we want to limit these programs that consume resources and the Internet, we will go to Start menu> Settings> Privacy Y Background apps. Then we will see these options:

Here we could choose to deactivate all the applications in the background if we turn off the switch of the first option. We could also choose to disable the applications that we do not want to consume data in the background.

See real-time traffic

The options that we have seen previously allow us to see the amount of data that we have consumed in a period of 30 days and also limit it. However, we are missing one thing that is none other than knowing the data traffic in Windows 10 in real time. In case you don’t know, we can do this mission from the Task Manager Windows 10. To access it we can do it in two different ways:

  • Ctrl + Alt + Del and then click on the Task Manager option. This is probably the easiest to remember because it serves several things and is one of the first we learn.
  • Ctrl + Shift + Escape This has the advantage that we can do everything in a single step.

Once inside the tab Processes, in Net we can see our network traffic in real time,

Also a way to check how the speed fluctuates, as in the example above, can be by doing a speed test or a large download.

As you have seen, we will be able to control all the connections and the data that are consumed easily and quickly with the Windows tools, without the need to install additional programs. The file limiter works perfectly, as soon as we reach the configured data consumption it will notify us that we have reached the configured value and will allow us to expand the configured data quota to continue browsing without problems.

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