Microsoft blocks updates for Windows 10 over LTE cellular modems
Microsoft has acknowledged an issue in WWAN LTE cellular modems affecting Windows 10 devices. Due to this issue, the company blocks Windows 10, version 2004 from being installed on them until the solution will be available.
According to Microsoft, some devices with WWLAN LTE modems might be unable to connect to the Internet and may show no internet connection in the Network Connectivity Status Indicator within Windows’ notification area.
This issue affects only the Windows 10. 2004 desktop versions with Windows Server, version 2004 devices not being impacted, said Microsoft.
The company has currently applied a safeguard hold on all Windows 10 devices with affected WWAN LTE modems drivers, preventing Windows 10, 2004 from being offer through Windows Update till the issue is resolved.
Until the fix for the issue is available and safeguard is removed, Microsoft urges users not to attempt manual update to the latest Windows version using Media Creation Tool or the Update now button.
What the customers can do at the moment is try to mitigate the issue by toggling Airplane mode on and off. “To do this, you can select the Start button, type airplane mode and select it. In the settings dialog, toggle Airplane mode on then off again. You should now be able to connect as expected,” Microsoft explained.
In May, during an update in KB4556799 Windows 10 support bulletin, Microsoft said that Windows 10 devices with LTE cellular modems may have been able to connect to the internet even though the Windows 10’s NCSI showed an “internet access” status. This issue was resolved with the release of the KB4559004 cumulative update.
Last month, the company investigated another known issue where Windows 10, 2004 users were seeing No Internet access tray indicators although their devices were connected to the internet. This issue was addressed earlier in this month with the release of Windows 10 Build 20185 for Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel.
In March, with the KB4554364 out-of-band Windows 10 update, the company fixed yet another internet connectivity issue impacted the devices with proxies, including VPNs.
The company said on 1st of July the Safeguard hold on some Microsoft surface devices was removed. However, reports say there are still Microsoft Surface devices having issue upgrading even after the removal of the compatibility hold.
Four update blocks are left at now to prevent incompatible devices from installing May 2020 update are:
- Errors or issues during or after updating devices with Conexant ISST audio drivers,
- Errors or issues during or after updating devices with certain Conexant or Synaptics audio drivers,
- Unsupported settings (compatibility issues with numerous systems and hardware configurations),
- Certain WWAN LTE modems might not be able to connect after waking from sleep
If your device is impacted with any of the above issue, you can forcibly upgrade it to Windows 2004 using the Media Creation Tool, the Windows 10 Upgrade Assistant or Windows 10 2004 ISO for a clean install. However, the Microsoft urges users not to do this as this could make the Windows 10 devices unusable.
