Enable RDP 8.0 UDP (DTLS) Support on Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2

Issue

Remote Desktop sessions to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 systems may feel sluggish, particularly over slow or high-latency network connections.

When viewing the connection information for an RDP session, UDP transport may not be in use, resulting in all traffic being transmitted over TCP.



Cause

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 do not support Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) 8.0 and Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) by default.

UDP transport support was introduced with RDP 8.0 and requires specific Windows updates to be installed before it can be enabled. In addition, the required Group Policy settings must be configured to allow the use of both UDP and TCP transport protocols.



Resolution

  1. Verify that Service Pack 1 (SP1) is installed.

  2. Open Installed Updates and verify that update KB2574819 is installed. This update adds DTLS support in Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.

  3. Verify that update KB2592687 is installed. This update adds support for Remote Desktop Protocol 8.0, including UDP transport capability.

  4. Configure the Group Policy setting Select RDP Transport Protocols located under:
    5. 
        Computer Configuration
            └─ Administrative Templates
                └─ Windows Components
                    └─ Remote Desktop Services
                        └─ Remote Desktop Session Host
                            └─ Connections

    Configure the policy as follows:


  5. Configure the Group Policy setting Enable Remote Desktop Protocol 8.0 located under:
    6. 
        Computer Configuration
            └─ Administrative Templates
                └─ Windows Components
                    └─ Remote Desktop Services
                        └─ Remote Desktop Session Host
                            └─ Remote Session Environment

    Configure the policy state to Enabled.

    The Enable Remote Desktop Protocol 8.0 policy may not be available when using newer Windows 10 or Windows 11 ADMX templates because the policy has been deprecated.

    If the policy is unavailable, configure the setting using a Group Policy Registry Preference:

    Registry Path:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services

    Value Name:

    fServerEnableRDP8

    Type: REG_DWORD

    Value: 1 (Hexadecimal)

  6. Apply Group Policy changes and reboot the Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2 system.

  7. Reconnect using Remote Desktop.

  8. Open the connection information dialog from the Remote Desktop client and verify that UDP transport is in use.

    9. RDP connection showing UDP is enabled

Benefits

When UDP transport is enabled, Remote Desktop can provide a smoother and more responsive user experience, particularly across slower WAN links and high-latency network connections. UDP reduces the impact of packet retransmissions and network congestion that can affect TCP-based RDP sessions.

Date Created: Friday, 8 November 2019, 9:16 PM