Windows 10, Windows update over LAN (Why doesn't it work?)

[Mussels]

So this feature was hyped as an annoyance and a great feature at the same time, in that windows 10 can download updates from other PC's to save on bandwidth/time and speed things along.

Except... it doesn't?


Myself and friends with more complex networks than my own have tried our best to get it to work, and we simply cannot. Updating at the same time, updating one after the other before/after reboots etc, nothing seems to work.


Has anyone got this feature to work? How did you achieve it?

 

[RejZoR]

I've tried it and it didn't work for me either. Though in theory it's a good feature. Once PC downloads the updates and others share them within local network, reducing load on MS servers as well as increasing update speed since local LAN is faster than external lines. Usually.

 

[Constantine Yevseyev]

Strange... I looked into WU API 4.0, and I don't see any option in ServerSelection enum that would be new to Windows 10 and/or represent a "custom" client (pretending to be a WU server) present in LAN. Maybe they're using ServiceID method to implement this functionality, or maybe it's just not exposed as an API call.

In either case, my guess would be firewall settings: the port that's needed is simply unavailable to client, even if the ServiceID (a custom URL) is in fact resolved correctly and holds your host machine's address.

You should use one of the advanced tools for monitoring connection attempts that happen to your main rig and see if you can track any, they have to show up. I know about Comodo Firewall, it has that strict mode thing that will prompt you immediately when something funky happens. Maybe it's possible with built-in firewall, or something you've been already using?..

But wait, does everybody on your LAN have a single user per machine? What if it's a SearchScope limitation?.. I. e., you're performing a search passing searchScopeMachineAndAllUsers from one of your secondary PCs, and the original one is only set to execute a search method with searchScopeMachineAndCurrentUser? Sounds pretty stupid, right, but you never know...

 

[newtekie1]

I believe, since this uses a P2P scheme(similar to torrents) it takes time for the systems to identify other PCs sharing the update files. If you download all the updates on one machine, then in a short period of time initiate the updates on the others, then they haven't had time to identify that the first machine is sharing the files. You may have to kind of let the update process happen naturally and not manually update the computers.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I think that big update (semi-service pack) got to another computer on my network via P2P. I don't think it was running enough to download it where I instructed my computer to get it right away. It was about 7 hours between my computer having installed it and trying to update the other computer.

My computer has it "On" and it has "PCs on my local network" checked.

My guess is that it does internet only if you click "Check for updates." It'll only check the network when it's automatically updating.

 

[Mussels]

I just googled this to find out if its been fixed, and here i am finding my own post from 2015 :/

 

[GoldenX]

I've never seen it work locally.

 

[Mussels]

i was installing W10 to a bunch of PC's today, and despite having 100Mb internet i'd have friggin loved it work at gigabit speeds.

But nope, still ran everything over the net - and all these years later, the top google result is my own!

 

[R0H1T]

i was installing W10 to a bunch of PC's today, and despite having 100Mb internet i'd have friggin loved it work at gigabit speeds.

But nope, still ran everything over the net - and all these years later, the top google result is my own!

Well you're famous on Google, that must count for something?

 

[Athlonite]

It probably requires SMB 1.0 which MS has removed from Windows 10 FCU 1709 it's probably also the same reason 2 Win 10 desktops on the same network that used to be able to see each other just fine for file and printer sharing now randomly can't see either themselves or each other in network places

 

[blobster21]

@Athlonite : There's no way a new feature such as Windows 10 's "optimized updates distribution" would use an obsolete and unsecure SMB version.

 

[Mussels]

This is a launch feature of W10 still in the OS, that has never worked even once :/


just raaaargh

 

[Disparia]

Checked all the Win 10 boxes here, no.

Might play around in the registry later: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/update/waas-delivery-optimization

To specify which devices are preferred, you can set the Max Cache Age configuration with a value of Unlimited (0). As a result, these devices will be used more often as sources for other devices downloading the same files.

On devices that are not preferred, you can choose to set the following policy to prioritize data coming from local peers instead of the Internet:

Set DOMinBackgroundQoS with a low value, for example 64 which is the equivalent of 64 KB/s.

 

[newtekie1]

It's working for me.

 

[Mussels]

all of mine show N/A, newtekie do you have any windows servers in the house?

 

[erixx]

Same here. Zero From Pc's

 

[newtekie1]

all of mine show N/A, newtekie do you have any windows servers in the house?

Nope, just 7 Windows 10 machines.

 

[Athlonite]

@Athlonite : There's no way a new feature such as Windows 10 's "optimized updates distribution" would use an obsolete and unsecure SMB version.

It may not use SMB 1.0 but whose to say that the underlaying networking problem isn't the reason for the non use of other PC's for updates if the PC in quetion can't see the other PC on the network then it wont see it for updates will it

 

[Mussels]

they wouldnt use something they've disabled/blocked for their own feature thats enabled out of the box.

I turn off all those optional tickboxes on installing W10, i wonder if they're related

 

[newtekie1]

they wouldnt use something they've disabled/blocked for their own feature thats enabled out of the box.

I turn off all those optional tickboxes on installing W10, i wonder if they're related

I turn all of those off too.