How to Turn Off Wi-Fi When LAN Is Connected for Windows 7
By Randall Blackburn
When you connect your Windows 7 computer to a wired LAN, the wireless connection may stay active, slowing your connection to Wi-Fi speeds. You can turn off Wi-Fi when LAN is connected by prioritizing your wired connection higher than the Wi-Fi connection in Windows 7. Configure your Ethernet connection with a higher priority in the Advanced Network Connection settings to automatically disconnect the wireless connection when a wired connection is established.
Step 1
Press “Windows-R” to open a Run dialog box on the Windows 7 computer.
Step 2
Type “ncpa.cpl” in the Run field, and then click “OK” to launch the Network Connections control panel applet.
Step 3
Click the “Advanced” tab in the top navigation menu to open the Advanced menu.
Step 4
Click the “Advanced Settings” option to open the Advanced Settings dialog box.
Step 5
Click the “Wi-Fi” entry, and then click the downward-pointing green arrow to move the wireless connection down in the priority list. Move the “Wi-Fi” entry below the “Ethernet” entry. The Ethernet entry automatically moves to the top to set the wired connection priority higher than the all other connections.
Step 6
Click “OK” and close the dialog box. The wireless connection will now yield to the wired LAN connection.
References
Tips
- If you don’t want to manually configure your network connections, you can download and install a VB script from Microsoft Technet that will automatically disable your wireless connection in Windows 7 when Ethernet is active (see Resources).
Writer Bio
Randall Blackburn has worked for several Fortune 1000 companies as a technical writer over the past seven years. He has produced a wide variety of technical documentation, including detailed programming specifications and research papers. Randall has also acquired several years' experience writing web content. Randall lives and works in Austin, TX.