Network and Internet Turn On or Off Metered Connection for Wi-Fi Network in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to set a Wi-Fi network as a metered connection or non-metered connection for all users in Windows 11.

Wi-Fi is a wireless local area network (WLAN) technology and standard that uses high-frequency radio waves to provide wireless Internet and network connections to your device.

A metered connection is an Internet connection that has a data limit associated with it. Cellular data connections are set as metered by default. Wi-Fi and Ethernet network connections can be set to metered but aren't by default. Some apps might work differently on a metered connection to help reduce your data usage. Also, some updates for Windows won't be installed automatically.

If you have a metered Internet connection with a data limit, you might have to pay extra or the connection speed reduces if you go over the data limit.

Turning on metered connection for your Wi-Fi network can help prevent you from going over the data limit from your Internet service provider.

References:






1 Open Settings (Win+I).

2 Click/tap on Network & internet on the left side, and click/tap on Wi-Fi on the right side. (see screenshot below)


3 Click/tap on Manage known networks. (see screenshot below)



4 Click/tap on the W-Fi network name (ex: "Brink-Router2") you want to set as metered or non-metered. (see screenshot below)


5 Turn On or Off Metered connection for what you want. (see screenshot below)


6 You can now close Settings if you like.

You must be signed in as an administrator to use this option

1 Open Windows Terminal (Admin), and select either Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt.

2 Copy and paste the netsh wlan show profiles command into the elevated terminal, and press Enter to see a list of all Wi-Fi network profiles on each interface on your PC. Make note of the W-Fi network name (ex: "Brink-Router2") you want to set as metered or non-metered. (see screenshot below)


3 Type the command below into the elevated terminal, and press Enter. (see screenshot below step 4)

netsh wlan show profile name="Wi-Fi network name"

Substitute Wi-Fi network name in the command above with the actual W-Fi network name (ex: "Brink-Router2") from step 2.

For example: netsh wlan show profile name="Brink-Router2"

4 Under the Cost settings section, look to see if Cost is currently set as Fixed (metered) or Unrestricted (non-metered) for this Wi-Fi network. (see screenshot below)


5 Type the command below you want to use into the elevated terminal, and press Enter. (see screenshots below)

(non-metered - off)
netsh wlan set profileparameter name="Wi-Fi network name" cost=Unrestricted

OR

(metered - on)
netsh wlan set profileparameter name="Wi-Fi network name" cost=Fixed

Substitute Wi-Fi network name in the command above with the actual W-Fi network name (ex: "Brink-Router2") from step 2.

For example: netsh wlan set profileparameter name="Brink-Router2" cost=Fixed

6 You can now close Windows Terminal if you like.


That's it,
Shawn Brink