Setting network adapter priority no longer works in Windows 11

I have two network adapters in a windows 11 computer: "Ethernet" and "Ethernet 2" (the first one is a Killer Ethernet controller, and the second a USB plug-in). "Ethernet 2" is a backup connection, has limited data, so by default (when it's working) I only want to use "Ethernet". Anyway, I had followed instructions similar to these and Windows was correctly prioritizing "Ethernet" for several years. However, about 6 months ago, I noticed (thanks to a big overage bill) that even when "Ethernet" was working fine, Windows was preferring "Ethernet 2". I re-did the steps (somehow "Ethernet 2" had become set to "automatic metric"). However, even though "Ethernet 2"'s interface metric is now set to 9999 and "Ethernet"'s interface metric is set to 1 as per screenshot below:



and I also did a route -f, and rebooted the computer, windows still prefers "Ethernet 2", as per the screenshot below ("Ethernet 2"'s usage is going up and not "Ethernet"; and "Ethernet 2" has a globe beside its "connected" label, which I assume means windows is using that adapter for internet access). I also turned on metering for "Ethernet 2".



Is there a reliable way to ensure that "Ethernet" is prioritized over "Ethernet 2"?

Did you ever get to the bottom of this? I have same issue, I've tried changing priority via Powershell and changing the metric via the properties of the network interfaces but the priority order just has no affect.

The tutorial that should help
Change Network Adapter Interface Connection Priority Order - ElevenForumTutorials
acknowledges that there has been a Windows change that removes the ability to set priorities - see its post #8 & post #9

[Just for completeness - Change Wi-Fi Network Connection Priority Order - ElevenForumTutorials]


Denis

---

Welcome to ElevenForum.

It's really worth making time to browse through the ElevenForum Tutorial index - there's a shortcut to it at the top of every ElevenForum page [within the Tutorials dropdown list].
- At the foot of the ElevenForum Tutorial index is a shortcut to download it as a spreadsheet.
- I download a new copy each month.
- By downloading it as a spreadsheet I can benefit from Excel's excellent filtering capabilities when I search for topics of interest.
- ElevenForum tutorials are also listed at Tutorials and there's a shortcut to that at the top of every page.

You can search ElevenForum using the search box in the top-right corner of all ElevenForum webpages or using Advanced Search - ElevenForum
- You can also search ElevenForum threads in many general search engines, such as Google, by adding site:elevenforum.com after your search term. For example,
Taskbar setup site:elevenforum.com
- [This is what the search box in the top-right corner of ElevenForum webpages does automatically]

For MSOffice problems search in and, if necessary, create threads in the TenForums MSOffice section [ElevenForum does not have one].

As the person who wrote post #8 that was referenced above, let me add some additional information:

I have discovered since the time of that posting that Windows now seems to treat two Ethernet adapters on the same network very differently than it did in the past. It now seems to use both adapters simultaneously, performing balancing between them. It used to be that you needed special software or drivers to enable "NIC Teaming" which would allow you to join adapters together to work as one. However, that now seems to be "baked in" to the OS. In view of this change in behavior, it makes more sense (at least in my head) that the priority is now ignored. I discovered this purely by accident, but I've been making use of it, implementing it on five systems so far. I can provide details if desired.

It's just odd that the settings for interface metric are still there. Looks like they never bothered to clean that stuff up. I also wish I could find documentation confirming the change in behavior.

hsehestedt said:

As the person who wrote post #8 that was referenced above, let me add some additional information:

I have discovered since the time of that posting that Windows now seems to treat two Ethernet adapters on the same network very differently than it did in the past. It now seems to use both adapters simultaneously, performing balancing between them. It used to be that you needed special software or drivers to enable "NIC Teaming" which would allow you to join adapters together to work as one. However, that now seems to be "baked in" to the OS. In view of this change in behavior, it makes more sense (at least in my head) that the priority is now ignored. I discovered this purely by accident, but I've been making use of it, implementing it on five systems so far. I can provide details if desired.

It's just odd that the settings for interface metric are still there. Looks like they never bothered to clean that stuff up. I also wish I could find documentation confirming the change in behavior.

Click to expand...

"NIC Teaming" seems like it could be useful in some scenarios, but not in my scenario. It should be an option that can be turned on or off. I know you're just reporting on your findings and it's not your decision, of course. But for my purposes, the user interface should be adjusted to include a toggle between NIC Teaming and single NIC priority-based selection.

avintiski said:

Did you ever get to the bottom of this? I have same issue, I've tried changing priority via Powershell and changing the metric via the properties of the network interfaces but the priority order just has no affect.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately not. And, based on hsehestedt's post, it seems we may be out of luck