In November 2025 I covered the general availability rollout of RDP Multipath for Azure Virtual Desktop (short AVD) and Windows 365 (short W365). That feature brought multiple redundant UDP paths with near‑instant failover using ICE, STUN and TURN. You can read the original blog post here if you need a refresher.
As of April 2026, Microsoft is expanding the technology. RDP Multipath now adds redundant TCP transport paths in public preview. This is an important evolution because it brings resiliency benefits even to users who cannot consistently establish UDP Shortpath connectivity. Below I’ll walk through what changed, why it matters, what you need to check, and how to get ready.
IMPORTANT: Redundant TCP transport paths for AVD & Windows 365 is in PREVIEW. Read the Supplemental terms for Microsoft Azure Previews before you test the feature in a productive environment.
What Changed
RDP Multipath can now maintain additional standby TCP-based reverse connect transports, alongside the existing UDP Shortpath candidates. The system continuously evaluates all available UDP and TCP paths. If the active path becomes unstable, Multipath can switch to the next best candidate immediately and transparently.
The core Interactive Connectivity Establishment (short ICE) logic does not change. ICE still gathers, exchanges, ranks, and monitors candidates. The difference now is that TCP reverse connect paths join the candidate list as additional fallbacks.
Think of it like this:
- UDP remains preferred.
- Backup TURN candidates stay warm.
- Now extra TCP Reverse Connect paths also stay warm.
This expanded menu of active and standby transports is what increases reliability, especially in network conditions that are far from perfect.
Why This Matters
UDP Shortpath is still king when it comes to performance and low latency, but not all users or networks allow UDP to flow cleanly. Branch networks, hotels, guest Wi‑Fi, strict corporate firewalls, or mobile hotspots can all force sessions back to TCP.
Before this update, those TCP-only scenarios had no Multipath resiliency. Now they do.
RDP Multipath can now manage a mix of:
- UDP via STUN (fastest path, lowest latency)
- UDP via TURN (fallback through relays)
- TCP via Reverse Connect over the AVD gateways (newly redundant in preview)
If the current transport degrades, Multipath instantly moves to a better one. If all paths fail during an outage, the system automatically reconnects once connectivity is restored.
Platform And Prerequisites
To take advantage of redundant TCP Multipath, make sure the following prerequisites are met and the environment is prepared accordingly:
- Host pools must be opted in to the validation ring (required during public preview).
- Users must connect from a local Windows device using Windows App version 2.0.1069.0 or later. Earlier versions support UDP-only Multipath but not redundant TCP paths.
- RDP Shortpath should still be configured as the primary transport; Multipath depends on it even for TCP fallback.
- If UDP is available, it will always be the preferred and highest-performing transport.
- Allow outbound UDP for STUN and TURN, and allow the necessary TCP connections for reverse connect through the AVD gateways.
- Avoid hair‑pinning traffic through centralized appliances or applying deep inspection. Reshaping or delaying TCP streams can cause false failovers and reduce Multipath effectiveness.
- Validate from real endpoints. The Windows App will show whether Multipath is active, and AVD Insights provides detailed diagnostics.
Conclusion
This preview marks an important step forward. RDP Multipath started with redundant UDP paths in 2025, and now in 2026 it adds redundant TCP transports. For environments where UDP isn’t always available, this is a meaningful improvement in session resiliency and user experience.
The work for administrators stays mostly the same: keep clients updated, enable Shortpath, allow UDP, configure correct egress, and opt into the Validation ring for this preview. When you do, your users, especially those behind restrictive networks, will notice the difference.