laptop keeps connecting via wireless even when plugged in

[bigdan]

i've bought a new laptop but even when its plugged in it keeps connecting thru the wireless rather than the wired connection. not sure how to change that. i dont want to disable the wireless as when i unplug the wire i still want to be able to use the net.

i realized its going thru the wireless because the connection is much slower than my desktop. but why would this be? our wireless should be at a pretty decent rate and i wouldve thought it wouldnt be noticeable until one is downloading a large file, which hasnt happened yet.

btw this happened on my last laptop as well so i dont think its unique here.

 

[Girmi007]

Hi,

you can try either Bridgechecker or Wireless AutoSwitch

Grtz,
Girmi

 

[KSoD]

Wired will always be faster than wireless. The WiFi technology can only go so fast. N is only at 150Mbps transfer rate. G is 54Mbps transfer rate and it goes down from there. So despite what any router says, like N750 or whatever, it can still only transmit the data at 150Mbps, as that is all the technology can do.

So on wire you can get full capabilities of the setup, meaning you can download as fast as your provider wants, your wifi will only go as fast as the data can be transmitted. At most it will open up multiple connections to the device to allow for faster transmission, but overall wired will always be faster no matter what. It is a pure signal that cant be degraded by anything.

You have to go into your Control Panel or Network Connections to make sure that the wired connection is listed first before the Wireless and that WiFi only connects when Wired isnt available. You have to do this, not Windows.

 

[Apokalipse]

Change the priority of the wired network adapter so that it's higher than the wireless network adapter
go to Control panel -> network and sharing centre -> change adapter settings
press alt, go to advanced -> advanced settings

click on "local area connection" and put it to the top of the list with the green arrows

 

[bigdan]

whoops i guess i didnt get an alert when this thread was responded to. i'll check these options when i get home and see how they work. thanks!

Wired will always be faster than wireless. The WiFi technology can only go so fast. N is only at 150Mbps transfer rate. G is 54Mbps transfer rate and it goes down from there. So despite what any router says, like N750 or whatever, it can still only transmit the data at 150Mbps, as that is all the technology can do.

I agree that wired > wireless however the speeds you mentioned are still really fast, much faster than anything I'd expect to see problems at. I sometimes even find youtube having trouble with streaming for example. That shouldnt be happening at 54Mbps, or even 8Mbps if that exists.

 

[Apokalipse]

If you're only getting 150mbps and your router says it can do more than 150mbps, it's because the wireless card you have is only capable of using one channel (1x1) of 20MHz bandwidth.
To do 300mbps, you need 2 channels (2x2) with 40MHz bandwidth, or to do 450mbps, you need 3 channels (3x3) with 60MHz bandwidth.

It is actually possible to replace the wireless card in a laptop most of the time, since they pretty much all use mini PCI-E (mostly half height cards), and most laptops will have an access panel to get to the wireless card underneath.

Some 300mbps capable wireless cards include those that use Broadcom BCM4322, Atheros AR9280, Intel 5300, Ralink RT3572 chips

I've installed an Atheros AR9380 (3x3 dual band) in my laptop, as well as three internal antennas which can run at 2.4 and 5GHz (it came with two 2.4GHz only internal antennas), which is capable of 450mbps in 2.4GHz and 450mbps in 5GHz (theoretically 900mbps if I use both 2.4GHz and 5GHz simultaneously with a compatible router)

My 2.4GHz only Asus RT-N16 connects at 300mbps - I think an Asus RT-N66U should be capable of 900mbps with the AR9380 connected to it