Setting network adapter metric priority in Windows 7

Question

I m having an issue on Windows 7 - if I have my Ethernet cable plugged in  Windows will default to using my WiFi network adapter   I would prefer that Windows default to my Ethernet connection   In order to resolve this  I have to manually disconnect the WiFi adapter in Control Panel s  Networking and Sharing Center   and then it will recognize my Ethernet connection   Another weird thing is when I look at Control Panel Network and Internet Network Connections  my  TAP-Win32 Adapter OAS  is always disconnected   My Ethernet adapter is only noticed when I have it plugged in  and only then it shows up as a new adapter called  Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller       Note  Sorry I can t show screen captures because I m one reputation point away from being able to show images    I followed the steps in the articles How to Change the Priority of Wired Wireless Network Cards in Windows and An explanation of the Automatic Metric feature for Internet Protocol routes  Here are my current metrics  network adapter priority    C  Users Michael gt  netstat -rn                                                                                 Interface List 10   1c c1 de 98 1b 88       Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller 16   00 ff fa d7 9e 94       TAP-Win32 Adapter OAS 13   00 26 82 c8 41 a7       Broadcom 43224AG 802 11a b g draft-n Wi-Fi Adapter 12   70 f3 95 79 4f ec       Bluetooth Device  Personal Area Network  24   00 50 56 c0 00 08       VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet8  1                           Software Loopback Interface 1 18   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter 21   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter  2 22   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter  3 14   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface 17   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter  4 20   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 e0 Microsoft ISATAP Adapter  5                                                                              IPv4 Route Table                                                                             Active Routes  Network Destination  Netmask           Gateway     Interface     Metric 0 0 0 0              0 0 0 0           192 168 1 1 192 168 1 103     28 0 0 0 0              0 0 0 0           192 168 1 1 192 168 1 101     24 127 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 1 0          255 255 255 0     On-link     192 168 1 103    270 192 168 1 0          255 255 255 0     On-link     192 168 1 101    268 192 168 1 101        255 255 255 255   On-link     192 168 1 101    268 192 168 1 103        255 255 255 255   On-link     192 168 1 103    270 192 168 1 255        255 255 255 255   On-link     192 168 1 103    270 192 168 1 255        255 255 255 255   On-link     192 168 1 101    268 192 168 116 0        255 255 255 0     On-link     192 168 116 1    276 192 168 116 1        255 255 255 255   On-link     192 168 116 1    276 192 168 116 255      255 255 255 255   On-link     192 168 116 1    276 224 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 1 101    268 224 0 0 0            240 0 0 0         On-link     192 168 116 1    276 224 0 0 0            240 0 0 0         On-link     192 168 1 103    270 255 255 255 255      255 255 255 255   On-link         127 0 0 1    306 255 255 255 255      255 255 255 255   On-link     192 168 1 101    268 255 255 255 255      255 255 255 255   On-link     192 168 116 1    276 255 255 255 255      255 255 255 255   On-link     192 168 1 103    270                                                                               Although the  Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller  has the higher priority metric  Windows still uses the WiFi connection by default   So to be explicit  I followed the instructions from the article  I unchecked the  automatic metric  assignment  and set it manually  only for the following adapters  on TCP IPv4     10  TAP-Win32 Adapter OAS 12  Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller 14  Broadcom 43224AG 802 11a b g draft-n Wi-Fi Adapter 16  Bluetooth Device  Personal Area Network    I then rebooted  and unfortunately  these settings were not picked up  Running the  netstat -rn  displays the same interface list priority as shown above  and again Windows used the WiFi adapter by default   If anyone has run into the same issues and resolved them  please let me know   The fact that Windows 7 does not prioritize an Ethernet connection over a WiFi connection baffles me  and its annoying to have to finagle around with it every time I boot up     If you also understand the behavior for the two adapters  Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller  and  TAP-Win32 Adapter OAS   that would be helpful as well

User · Answer

Windows has two different settings in which priority is established. There is the metric value which you have already set in the adapter settings, and then there is the connection priority in the network connections settings.

To change the priority of the connections:

Open your Adapter Settings (Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network Connections)
Click Alt to pull up the menu bar
Select Advanced -> Advanced Settings
Change the order of the connections so that the connection you want to have priority is top on the list

User · Answer

I had the same problem on Windows 7 64-bit Pro  I adjusted network adapters binding using Control panel but nothing changed  Also metrics where showing that Win should use Ethernet adapter as primary  but it didn t   Then a tried to uninstall Ethernet adapter driver and then install it again  without restart  and then I checked metrics for sure   After this  Windows started prioritize Ethernet adapter

[windows] Setting network adapter metric priority in Windows 7

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