If you’re using your laptop with WiFi exclusively (no wired network connections) you can effectively stop updates by changing the WiFi connection to “Metered Mode”. This is the very first thing I do when setting up a new Win 10 machine.
More info and instructions here: https://www.howtogeek.com/226722/HOW-WHEN-AND-WHY-TO-SET-A-CONNECTION-AS-METERED-ON-WINDOWS-10/
Please note that if you plug a live Ethernet cable into your laptop you will receive updates almost immediately.
Wife’s laptop, will check for this when she stops facef*ck for a while.