Why does Windows 10 not re-establish the WiFi connection after restarting?

Error

If W-LAN connections have been set up in Windows 10 that do not have an Internet connection, they are not reconnected after a restart.

Causes of errors

Our measurement hardware such as MobilData and MultiSens sets up its own WLAN. For this purpose, we supply a TP-Link stick and a small router with the hardware. These create their own network without an internet connection.

Microsoft has changed the behaviour for these connections for Windows 10 compared to previous Windows versions. Windows tries to minimise the number of network connections with the default settings.

Error solution

If you are using Windows 10 Professional, proceed as follows:

Open the group policy editor

1. Win + R -> gpedit.msc
2. Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Network -> Windows Connection Manager -> Minimise the number of simultaneous connections to the Internet or a Windows domain -> Disabled

For Windows Home, proceed as follows:

1. Win + R -> regedit
2. Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WcmSvc\GroupPolicy\
3. Create a new key with the name fMinimiseConnections if it does not already exist.
   • New Key -> DWORD
4. Set the value to 0 (zero)
   • 0 = Several simultaneous connections to the Internet or a Windows domain are permitted.
   • 1 = Multiple simultaneous connections to the Internet or a Windows domain are blocked. (default)

The link from Microsoft to this behaviour is here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/mobilebroadband/understanding-and-configuring-windows-connection-manager