Do You Have To Unplug Ethernet To Use Wi-Fi?

If you have a particularly awkward Ethernet cable setup, as I do, you probably want to know whether you need to physically unplug the cable from your desktop or laptop before using Wi-Fi. The answer is no, but you do have to redirect your computer to understand which connection you are prioritizing, either by manually changing the interface metric values to adjust the priority of each adapter if trying to use both, or by toggling off the wired network adapters if you just want to use Wi-Fi. I tried the second method myself since I normally need to climb under my desk to reach my personal desktop to unplug the Ethernet cable, and I would rather cut that out of my routine, if possible. Plus, my router is in too much of an awkward spot for me to unplug it comfortably by doing it from the other end.

It turns out that Windows 11 is why it isn't so cut-and-dried on whether you can use your Wi-Fi over your Ethernet connection. This is because Windows prioritizes the most stable and fastest connection if given the choice. By default, being wired via Ethernet should give you better connectivity than Wi-Fi, at least if you're using a Cat6 cable or better. Luckily, there is a quick workaround, especially if you don't want to mess with too many settings, to remotely control the adapters so they act as if the Ethernet cable isn't plugged in, even though it is.

Windows 11 tries to optimize your connection based on what's available. For me, though, I had a recent scare when my Ethernet cable was severely damaged, to the point that I was surprised it was even working at all (the wires were exposed and looked almost frayed, likely a consequence of buying a flat cable when I needed a round one). Since this runs for some distance across my wall, I couldn't just buy another 50-foot cable on a whim to replace it. So, as a bit of an emergency measure, I wanted to switch to Wi-Fi instead of Ethernet without unplugging it. It turns out I needed to make one vital change for it to work properly: disable the Ethernet adapter in my Windows settings.

To disable the adapter, open the Settings app (pressing Windows key + I is the easiest way), then click Network & internet. Scroll down to find Advanced network settings and click to open the adapters page. Under Network adapters, click the Disable button next to Ethernet. If you need to re-enable it, click Enable next to it, and it should restore your wired connection.

You can technically run a quick script instead of going into your settings if you are comfortable doing so and have administrator access. Just note that this method requires using PowerShell or the Windows Command Prompt. Type in 'netsh interface set interface "Ethernet" disable' as your prompt and press Enter. If your adapter is not labeled Ethernet, then you will need to replace it with the actual adapter name in the double quotation field. To re-enable, change the command to enable instead of disable.