Slow internet speed is one of the annoying problems that we have already discussed solutions for in several previous topics, where we talked about identifying program’s internet speed consumption and how to reduce Windows 10’s internet consumption through simple steps. However, since programs are always the source of this slowdown, let me tell you in this article about more than one way through which you can identify the specific program that makes the internet slow without even using additional programs or tools on Windows.
The idea of these methods is almost the same as the idea of the article on how to identify the program that makes Windows boot time long, as we will rely on the Task Manager tool built into Windows system, which allows us to monitor the device’s resource consumption by programs and Windows services. Since the network card is among the device’s resources, we can know all the programs that are consuming the internet at the current time through it. Therefore, if this program is consuming the internet unnecessarily, you can stop it so that the internet speed returns to other programs that need higher internet speed.
All you have to do is right-click on the Taskbar and choose Task Manager from the menu to open the Task Manager window. If this is the first time you are opening Task Manager, click on More Details to display the monitoring interface for each element consuming device resources. However, to sort these elements by internet consumption, click on the Network column header to filter out programs and processes that are slowing down the internet speed starting from the highest to the lowest.
In my case, as shown in the attached image above, Google Chrome browser is the highest consumer of internet on the device, using up to 1.9 megabytes per second, which is logical because it is an internet browser and I am watching a video through it. However, it may be different for you. If you find a program in the list that consumes internet unnecessarily, you can right-click on it and then click End task to forcibly close it. If you want to prevent it from using the internet again, refer to the topic “How to prevent a specific program from using the internet” without any additional programs.
Sometimes, you may find that a system process is the highest consumer of the internet, not a program. In this case, you cannot end the task as it is related to the system, but you can stop or pause it. However, I do not recommend doing this as it may cause a problem with the system. But if you are determined to stop this process to regain internet speed and get rid of the slowness, all you have to do is right-click on this process and choose Go to details from the menu. It will immediately move to the Details tab where this process is located. Right-click on it and then click Go to Services.
After you are in the Services section, you will find that the system has identified the source of running this process for you. If you notice in the previous image, the process Service Host: Local System is the highest consumer of the internet, and after moving to the Services section, you will find that there are 3 sources for running this process, including Windows Update, which is likely the cause of this high internet consumption. To stop this process, click on the Open Services button below, then search for the name of this process within the Services window that will appear to you. Once you find it, right-click on it and choose Stop as shown in the image above. Thus, the process will not continue in this excessive internet consumption.
There is another way if you do not want to use Task Manager, which is by using the Resource Monitor tool also built into Windows to monitor all processes in a more easy and practical way. You can run the tool after pressing the Windows + R keys on the keyboard, and after opening the Run window, type the command “perfmon.exe /res” and press Enter. Then, after the Resource Monitor tool is launched, go to the Network tab at the top to display all the processes and programs currently consuming internet, in addition to displaying the data size consumed in bytes per second. To close any program, right-click on it and then click End Process to get rid of the internet slowness caused by this program.
Windows 10 also has a feature that allows you to know which programs and processes consume the most internet over a 30-day period. So you can identify those programs that you do not use but still consume a lot of internet. All you have to do is press the Windows + i keys together on the keyboard to open the Settings app, then click on Network & Internet, and on the left side, click on Data usage, then click on View usage details and a list will be displayed including all programs and processes starting from the highest to the lowest internet consumption.
