WireLess Windows

How To Change The Network Adapter Priority In Windows

7wirelessnet1
Once you have clicked the option to “Change adapter settings” you will be brought to another screen. Now, you may have noticed in Windows 7 that since Windows XP Microsoft has decided to do away with by default showing the familiar “File, Edit, Options, Help” Toolbar (aka the Menu Toolbar). As such, in order to get it to show anywhere in Windows what you need to do is hit the ALT button. Once you have revealed the Menu Toolbar* which is highlighted below in red click “Advanced” and then in the sub-menu that is shown go to to “Advanced Settings” also highlighted in red in the screen cap.
*There is a way to lock the Menu Toolbar there but we’ll deal with that another time.7wirelessnet2
Now you are in the Advanced Settings and you are almost done! The Advanced Settings screen as shown below has, like other screen caps I have shown, only been altered to include red highlighting boxes. You will see in the window two tabs but don’t worry, we are staying in the first one. Below that, you will see the instructions “Connections are listed in the order in which they are accessed by network services.” As you can see in my screenshot, my Wireless Network Connections are first in the list. This is why, until now, my computer was accessing wireless as the primary connection even when it was connected to a wired connection – here called Local Area Connection.
7wirelessnet3
To the right of the “Connections” box you will see two arrows. Highlight the connection you would like to reorder (in this case Local Area Connection) and it will indicate to you where you can move it in the list. If the arrows are both green it means you can move the connection either up or down in the list, if one is grayed out it means you can’t move the connection in that direction in the list. As you can see, my Local Area Connection is at the bottom of the list so the down arrow is grayed out whereas the up arrow is green. All you have to do to move it to the top of the list is make sure you have the connection highlighted and click the arrow until you get the connection to the position you want. Then, click the “OK” button at the bottom and you’re done!