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Question

Wired and Wireless connections on the same Windows 7 machine.

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When my desktop is connected to both networks, Windows 7 seems to default the wireless network as it's primary link.  How do I force Windows 7 (Home Premium) to use the wired network as a primary and the wireless as a secondary?

I have an HP Pavilion Elite running Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.  8 gig of RAM, AMD Phenom II X4 910 processer, Nvidia 9800GT video card.  StarTech PCI Express 10/100/1000 network card (Realtek PCIe chipset & driver) and a Atheros 802.11a/b/g/n Dualband wireless card.  Both cards functional and stable.  No system issues.

My home network consists of two separate VLANs - a wired network using 172.18.1.0/27 and the wireless network using 172.18.2.0/27. Both networks are connect to a single router with dual ISP connections (Cable and DSL).  When the desktop is connected to both the wireless and wired VLANs traffic defaults to the wireless VLAN.  I need the desktop connected to both VLANs - but would like to use the wired network as a primary.
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14 People had
this question

TheVorlon

TheVorlon

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17

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Answer

Have you tried changing the adapters and bindings order in the advanced panel of network connections?

In the start menu, search for 'network connections' and press enter.

In the window the comes up, use Alt-key for menu. Choose Advanced. (alt-n-s) On the Adapters and Bindings tab, re-order the connections, putting your wired connection at the top.

 

 

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CACrawford

CACrawford

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12

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When more than one network connection is available, Windows uses the one with the lowest metric value.  By default, it automatically assigns a metric value based on the network connection's rated speed.  See An explanation of the Automatic Metric feature for Internet Protocol routes .

To force Windows to use a specific network connection, assign a metric value to each one, giving the lowest value to the desired connection:

1. Open the Network Connections folder (Start > Run > ncpa.cpl)
2. Right click the desired connection.
3. Click Properties > Internet Protocol Version 4.
4. Click Properties > Advanced.
5. Un-check "Automatic metric".
6. Enter a number between 1 and 9999 for the "Interface metric".
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Steve Winograd

Steve Winograd
Steve Winograd

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12

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Answer
When more than one network connection is available, Windows uses the one with the lowest metric value.  By default, it automatically assigns a metric value based on the network connection's rated speed.  See An explanation of the Automatic Metric feature for Internet Protocol routes .

To force Windows to use a specific network connection, assign a metric value to each one, giving the lowest value to the desired connection:

1. Open the Network Connections folder (Start > Run > ncpa.cpl)
2. Right click the desired connection.
3. Click Properties > Internet Protocol Version 4.
4. Click Properties > Advanced.
5. Un-check "Automatic metric".
6. Enter a number between 1 and 9999 for the "Interface metric".
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Steve Winograd

Steve Winograd
Steve Winograd

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Hi Steve, do you know if there is a way to ask windows to re-assess the rated speed?  I have two connections:

• 1 Gbps Wired LAN
• 54 Mbps 802.11g

 

But Windows 7 still prefers the wireless one when both are connected.  I can assign the metric, but I'd love for Windows to handle this on its own.

 

 

If this was helpful, please vote by clicking the green triangle. If it solves the issue, click Propose as Answer. Thanks!
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Shawn B Keene [MVP]

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Shawn B Keene [MVP] MVP
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Microsoft MVP
Windows Client Expert
Microsoft Community Moderator

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Try manually configuring the speed in the network adapter's properties in Device Manager.  For example, my gigabit Ethernet adapter has aSpeed & Duplex property that I can set to 1.0 Gbps Full Duplex .
Boulder Computer Maven
Microsoft Most Valuable Professional
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Steve Winograd

Steve Winograd
Steve Winograd

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I have an identical query as asked by Shawn B. Keene.

 I have two connections to my laptop:

• 1 Gbps Wired LAN (Broadcom NetXtreme 57xx Gigabit Controller)

• 54 Mbps 802.11g  (Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card)

I have tried couple of things to set metric

1) I have assigned the metric 10 for wired NIC adaptor and 20 for wireless however, Windows 7 still prefers the wireless one when both are connected.

2) I have assigned the metric 10 for wired NIC adaptor and kept automatic metric for wireless, Windows 7 still prefers the wireless one when both are connected.

Is there a way to set wired connection as preffered one when both wired and wireless connections are available?

 

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Santosh NB

Santosh NB

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2

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Im my case it helped to change wireless card metrics to 2500 while keeping wired one as automatic. Changing wired one to 10 had no effect. It looks like there are problems with enforcing low metrics values.
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krzcho

krzcho

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2

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From the command line, if you enter "route print", you'll get a a route table output that shows the interface and metric assigned to the interface. It would be interesting to see what these look like when both the Gigabit and the wireless controllers are active.
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Sean Wyatt

Sean Wyatt

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2

Votes

I have the same issue.

My notebook is connected by ethernet and wi-fi.

Although the ethernet interface has the lowest metric, windows 7 prefers to use wi-fi to access

my samba server.

The funny part is that it uses wi-fi just for the network shared folders. When I connect throught SSH

to the same server, windows 7 uses ethernet.

I prety sure about ir because i used tcpdump (sniffer) to see from with IP/MAC the connection was going throught.

Did anyone solve this?

 

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mcardia

mcardia

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1

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I have the same issue, wired even with a metric of one, is not used, whereas wireless with a metric of 99 is.

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IanWatk

IanWatk

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2

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I just set NIC to 1 and Wireless to 9999. Since no immediate change occured, I disabled wireless (switch on the laptop), then re-enabled it. Appears as though Windows defaulted to wireless again as soon as it loaded.
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Concorde85

Concorde85

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17

Votes

Answer

Have you tried changing the adapters and bindings order in the advanced panel of network connections?

In the start menu, search for 'network connections' and press enter.

In the window the comes up, use Alt-key for menu. Choose Advanced. (alt-n-s) On the Adapters and Bindings tab, re-order the connections, putting your wired connection at the top.

 

 

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CACrawford

CACrawford
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