Managing or balancing the network bandwidth means assigning priorities to those applications and programs that exchange data on the internet and therefore consume the available network bandwidth. Limiting the bandwidth for a program can be useful in various circumstances, for example, to download (or upload) a very large file without browsing the internet too slow or while watching a movie on Netflix. To better understand, we can easily imagine a computer connected to the internet on which they are used simultaneously: Chrome to browse websites, a Torrent client to download a p2p file and Netflix to watch movies on TV. If the download of Torrent occupies the entire network bandwidth or almost, it will not only slow down internet browsing, but will make watching the film on TV almost impossible.
READ ALSO: Check internet traffic and monitor the network bandwidth
First of all, it is important to remember that just to avoid clogging the network and to slow down the internet connection, in Windows 10 there is an option to limit the bandwidth used by Windows Update to download updates.
We saw how to do it in the guide on how to limit Windows Update network traffic .
Many briefly, you can configure this limit by going to Settings -> Update and security -> Windows Update -> Advanced options -> Delivery optimization -> Advanced options .
From here you can activate the option that limits the bandwidth used to download updates in the background and choose how much to limit it.
Another thing that can be done to limit bandwidth usage from computer applications is the use of the QoS (qualtiy of Service) function on the router to power up the internet . With this feature, the router will automatically prioritize traffic based on the rules set, even if it cannot set a precise bandwidth limit.
You can therefore limit WiFi bandwidth from the Router on specific devices or computers and not only on a PC as explained in this article.
To limit the traffic of programs and processes on the PC, you must therefore use an external program such as NetLimiter which is used to choose which applications have the privilege or rather the priority, in the use of internet bandwidth, thus limiting the download capacity for some programs and to increase it for others. In fact it is a program to control the network traffic of the various processes and, if you want, to limit it for some in order to preserve the available network bandwidth for others. The tool has a fairly simple graphical interface even for the less experienced and, thanks to colored graphics, it remains quite intuitive. Unfortunately, this program is only free for 28 days.
The only free program that can be used to limit the bandwidth of programs on Windows is TMeter .
TMeter Freeware Edition has a rather complicated interface and can limit the bandwidth of four applications at a time, but it is free to use. After installation, open the Start menu, search for TMeter and then start the " TMeter Administrative Console " application. The first time you start it, you need to select the network interface in the sidebar and check the box next to the network you are using. For example, if you want to restrict applications using your Wi-Fi connection, select the Wi-Fi interface. Then select the type of network, which can be private or public (in the case of a public wifi network).
Next, you can define the processes you want to limit. In the main window, " Process Definitions " in the sidebar, and press the " Add " button to search and locate the .exe file of the process to be limited. Most of the applications should be located in the Program Files folder. For added processes you can then set a rule and mark the option to limit bandwidth.
Another program that can be used to manage internet bandwidth by limiting traffic and speed for processes and programs is NetBalancer, which is not free, but which can still be downloaded in the older free version from the Cnet site.
With this program, therefore, you can optimize the use of the Internet and maximize the download capacity on a PC connected to the Internet in an extremely simple way. Depending on what you are doing then you can convey the network bandwidth on the application that, at that moment, is used the most.
On another page you can find out the speed of your network connection .
