We each have our own wifi connections at home - smartphone hotspot to share 3G/4G internet. Recently, I installed Windows 10 on my sister's laptop - first Win 7, then upgrade to Win 10 to get the digital entitlement (still working, btw). During this process, I had used my own internet connection. Now, despite my best efforts, my sister's laptop keeps defaulting to using my internet connection. I have tried using 'forget this network' in settings. I have used REGEDIT on her laptop and deleted my hotspot's saved key from HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Profiles. All to no avail - it keeps using my bandwidth. Short of doing a clean install and using her own hotspot to set it up this time, is there anything else I can do? She is having to enter her wifi password every time she manually connects to her own hotspot.
Settings => Network&Internet => Wi-Fi => Manage known networks (change how to login or delete some or all (forgot)any connection). NB! If You use some new network, be carefull to check or uncheck "Connect automatically".
Seems to be that your Network Settings for the Hotspots are not correct. You may need to reconfigure those Hotspots and use different SID's and different Network IP ranges. At my Office, I use 3 different Networks for the 3 different AP's: 10.0.1.x, 10.0.2.x and 10.0.3.x and the .x are limited for IP's from .100 to .199 for WiFi auto, while the range .2 to .99 is for the computers, Server's, Printers and Scanners which all have their own fixed LAN IP. If you could, I would also suggest that you limit the Wifi Connection for any computer to the Mac Address of the WiFi Cards/Adapter and all secondly secured with a WPA/WPA2 key.
Everything works fine on my other systems - 3 smartphones, 1 not so smart phone, 4 hotspots, 4 other laptops, 1 desktop. 3 people, each with a smartphone, each uses his or her own smartphone internet connection for his or her laptop(s). Only this one laptop is misbehaving. Most likely it is a Windows 7 upgraded to Windows 10 thing.
Try experimenting with "metered connection option.Maybe if you set your own connection as metered & her connection as normal then win 10 may default to unmetered connection because of its always going on updates.It is just a theory of mine though.
I still think that you've got a problem with your Network Configuration! What are those 4 Hotspots, AP's or what? How you're routing all connected devices? What kind of Security did you use? How the different user connecting? Etc., Etc., Etc.!
Do you have a smartphone? Does it have 3G/4G/5G internet access? Can your laptop use that internet connection? You do that by creating a hotspot on your smartphone, with SSID and password. Then your laptop connects to that SSID. Each user has their own network. 4 separate independent networks. When we want to share files, etc., we can connect to the same network for a while, otherwise these networks stay separate. User1 uses SSID1 running on phone1 for laptop1 and laptop5 User2 uses SSID2 running on phone2 for laptop2 and desktop1 User3 uses two internet connections on two phones - SSID3 running on phone3 and SSID4 running on phone4 for laptop3 and laptop4. User3 took User1's laptop1, installed Windows 10 (Win7 ->Win10) on laptop1 using SSID3 to activate, upgrade and configure, then gave laptop1 back to User1. Problem is, laptop1 always wants to use SSID3. Laptop1 belongs to User1. I want it to use SSID1, but it keeps connecting to SSID3. On laptop1 I went to Settings => Network&Internet => Wi-Fi => Manage known networks and selected SSID3 and 'forget this network'. Didn't work. Laptop1 keeps connecting to SSID3. On laptop1 I ran REGEDIT and deleted SSID3's saved key from HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Profiles. Didn't work. Laptop1 keeps connecting to SSID3. User3 justifiably pissed. If User1 wants laptop1 to connect to SSID1, the password for SSID1 has to be entered every time. User1 justifiably pissed. All other PCs are fine. Only laptop1 has this weird problem.
OK, now I understand that you use Mobiles/Handys only with either 3G or 4G! For to use such "Network", which would be quite expensive for the cost's of used services (here in Thailand at least!) I would use a Mobile/Pocket Router with just one SIM Card which would work on 3G/4G, and let connect up to 8 or 10 "User". I use such Pocket Router with 3G/4G and that works well all over in Thailand. But I've to say I wouldn't share that as a 'HotSpot' in Thailand because of the very high cost of the services for the ISP. Anyway, regarding the problem you have, it seems to be that the connection settings, special the Mac Address or the like of SSID3 are still inside of that Mobile from User 3. It could also be that those setting are located on the used SIM Card of the Mobile of User3, or in the SD/TF Card. Therefore, you will deeply check the Laptop1 and the Mobile of User3. Good luck with that. If you guys just using that for sharing files, while didn't use some Cloud Server etc. for that? I use several of that, on my own Server as well, and for 'things' I wouldn't have on my own systems, I use also some free space providers. There a lot of possibilities. Ok, that's simply up to you what you guys would do. And sorry for the misunderstandings about what you use, in Thailand many talking about WiFi and name AP's just HotSpots.
Here in India (at least in some areas) internet using mobile SIM is cheaper than landline or fiber. The big advantage is that when any one leaves the house, they still get internet on the phone. Having one wifi network at home is great, but if you also have to get a data pack for each phone for outside use, it makes no sense, economically. We normally DON'T share files on wifi. Each network stays separate for each user. But there is a daily data limit, so if someone's own limit runs out, he/she can connect to someone else's SSID as and when needed. I have now scanned the registry on laptop1 and deleted every key that contains SSID3. Hoping that will solve the issue.
If it still did not work, check the Event Log on Laptop 1 for any entry from and to SSID3. You could also download some Network Management and Monitoring App and use that to log anything whats going on on the related network. Such App are also available for Android etc. and therefore could also be used on the mobile devices. There quite some ways to find out what the h*ll is going on. God luck.
If you haven't find a solution yet just go to the ''Device Manage'' and uninstall the network driver without selecting the little box on the dialog and rescan for the driver there.
This seems to have fixed it. I'm sorry I wasn't more patient and didn't manage to find out deleting which particular registry entry fixed the issue - there were a bunch of them and I just waded through the registry like a madman, deleting keys willy-nilly. Thanks to everyone who helped out.
Didn't work. Laptop1 still dug out SSID3 password from somewhere. Now trying Hadron-Curious' tip - uninstalling and reinstalling the wifi driver.
You could still try the following: download an App which let you change the Mac Address temporary until the next reboot. If SSID3 could not connect anymore, you use a terribly unsafe WiFi Network. Another way would be to disable the internal WiFi and use a WiFi Dongle to get a different Mac Address. Overall the main point to check very deeply, still is the Modem/Routers Configuration. If I had such a problem I would have been ended up already with a new and CLEAN installation, while within that, I would also have changed the whole Security Settings.
A clean install is definitely going to happen - soon. This is just for my curiosity - and for a time when a clean install is not an option.