Systems and methods are described for connection throttling between peripherals and centrals. Connections may enable bi-directional communication between a peripheral and a central to allow for updates to or configuration of the peripheral. The peripheral can send broadcasts to centrals. The broadcasts may contain metadata indicating a time period since the peripheral last connected to a central, a maximum connection distance, and a transmit power or signal strength indicator. The central may use the transmit power or signal strength indicator to determine a distance from the central to the peripheral and may determine whether the distance is within the maximum connection distance. The central may determine to connect to the peripheral based on time and distance thresholds being satisfied. Upon establishing of a successful connection, the central can update or configure the peripheral.