Increasingly, from what I’ve observed, depending on the number of network hardware you have in your computer, network connections in Windows attempt a wireless connection first and then an ethernet connection. However, it’s not obvious where to change the order or preference of network connections in Windows. To modify the priority of network connections try the steps listed below:
- Open Network Connections. Since the whole Windows Vista network redesign, I’ve found it easier to use the Control Panel shortcut by clicking on the Start orb and typing in ncpa.cpl in the search box and pressing enter
- Click on Advanced
- Click on Advanced Settings and you should now see the following window
- Under Connections select the connection whose priority you would like to change and use the arrows to modify the priority or change the bindings that are associated with the specific connection