Set LAN to take network priority before Wi-Fi on Windows 7

So far I've tried to prioritize LAN the following:

Sadly that didn't change anything. I have to deactivate my wireless adapter to get Windows to use the LAN connection. Any ideas?

I am running Windows 7 Ultimate on a Lenovo G580 with a Broadcom 802.11n network adapter and a "Atheros AR8162/8166/8168 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller (NDIS 6.20)".

My router supports 54 MBit/s which should be beaten by the 10/100 Base-T standard ethernet, right?

IPv4 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.178.1 192.168.178.57 2 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.178.1 192.168.178.46 4 127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 Auf Verbindung (German: on-link) 127.0.0.1 306 127.0.0.1 255.255.255.255 Auf Verbindung 127.0.0.1 306 127.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 Auf Verbindung 127.0.0.1 306 192.168.178.0 255.255.255.0 Auf Verbindung 192.168.178.57 257 192.168.178.0 255.255.255.0 Auf Verbindung 192.168.178.46 258 192.168.178.46 255.255.255.255 Auf Verbindung 192.168.178.46 258 192.168.178.57 255.255.255.255 Auf Verbindung 192.168.178.57 257 192.168.178.255 255.255.255.255 Auf Verbindung 192.168.178.57 257 192.168.178.255 255.255.255.255 Auf Verbindung 192.168.178.46 258 224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 Auf Verbindung 127.0.0.1 306 224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 Auf Verbindung 192.168.178.57 257 224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 Auf Verbindung 192.168.178.46 258 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 Auf Verbindung 127.0.0.1 306 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 Auf Verbindung 192.168.178.57 257 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 Auf Verbindung 192.168.178.46 258
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes: None

and heres the same with 100 wlan metric:

IPv4 Route Table
===========================================================================
Active Routes:
Network Destination Netmask Gateway Interface Metric 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.178.1 192.168.178.57 2 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 192.168.178.1 192.168.178.46 102 127.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 On-link 127.0.0.1 306 127.0.0.1 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306 127.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306 192.168.178.0 255.255.255.0 On-link 192.168.178.57 257 192.168.178.0 255.255.255.0 On-link 192.168.178.46 356 192.168.178.46 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.178.46 356 192.168.178.57 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.178.57 257 192.168.178.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.178.57 257 192.168.178.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.178.46 356 224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 127.0.0.1 306 224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 192.168.178.57 257 224.0.0.0 240.0.0.0 On-link 192.168.178.46 356 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 127.0.0.1 306 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.178.57 257 255.255.255.255 255.255.255.255 On-link 192.168.178.46 356
===========================================================================
Persistent Routes: None

Any idea why the one and two become metric two and four and one and 100 become two and 102?

Both wired and wireless adapters connected are connected to the same subnet. The only thing that runs on startup is my anti-virus program. At least from what I can control in msconfig.

0

3 Answers

To make the wired LAN connection take priority you need to change the metric for the WIFI connection in the advanced settings pane of the WIFI connections' properties.

enter image description here

Untick the 'Automatic metric' and set the metric to 9999 manually

enter image description here

Next open a commandline with admin rights and submit this command to clear the routing tables:

route /f

After this step reboot windows to make sure the new metric value gets used.

Upon rebooting the routing tables will be rebuilt using ARP-discovery, causing the new metrics to be assigned to the routes. The net effect will be that to your TCP/IP stack it will look as if hosts/devices connected to the wired LAN have a more efficient route than those connecting via WIFI only.

7

The automatic metrics are based on connection speed, so while a 100Mbps LAN connection beats a 54Mbps 802.11g network, a 150 or 300Mbps 802.11n network will win.

The adapter binding order in your first bullet is unlikely to be useful here. The interface metrics in your second bullet should have done the trick... Perhaps a more extreme value is needed (say 1 for LAN, 100 for WLAN).

Can you provide the "IPv4 Route Table" section of a netstat -rn command? Those are the final metrics as the TCP/IP stack actually evaluates them and should be the source of truth.

2

On Windows 7

  1. type in "ncpa.cpl" at the run dialog
  2. press alt / F10 if the menu bar is not visible
  3. Advanced > Advanced Settings > Adapters and Bindings Tab > use up-down arrow key to set priority of selected connection

reference: LNN howtogeek

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Sign up using Google Sign up using Facebook Sign up using Email and Password

Post as a guest

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

You Might Also Like