subject: How To Disable A Wireless Connection When Connected To A Physical Network [print this page] Wireless technology has had an immense impact on our modern world. It has made it possible to create entire networks that dont require running cabling through your home or business, and it has encouraged the growth of handheld tablet computers as well as smartphones that offer immense power. However, wireless connections are not always idea. Knowing how to disconnect a wireless connection when you have a physical network in place is important.
Wireless or Wired Making the Choice
Before we get into what you need to know in order to disable a wireless connection in favour of a physical network, you need to know a bit more about your options. When is it better to use a wireless connection? When might a physical network be a better option?
Wireless networks are extremely convenient they are capable of providing connectivity to a network or the Internet throughout a home or business, and a wide range of products now makes use of this technology (TVs, Blue-ray players, smartphones and even cameras can connect to wireless networks now).
However, youll find that large homes and businesses are not ideal locations for wireless networks. Most routers (even newer models with expanded range capacities) cannot provide good coverage for large areas. Youll also discover that wireless routers have a fluctuating signal (its cyclical), which means that you wont have the same transfer speeds every minute of the day.
Wired connections on the other hand, can offer excellent speeds (they can offer higher speeds than even peak wireless output), and are rock solid in terms of stability. However, that stability and speed comes with a drawback the need to run cabling throughout your location. Depending on the size of your network and whether youre dealing with new construction or an existing building, that can be a real headache.
Still, there are many ways that you can expand and improve a wireless network, as well as solutions that offer both wired and wireless connectivity that switches based on performance considerations.
How to Disconnect a Wireless Connection when a Physical Network Is Present
If you have a physical connection present and want to disable your wired connection, its a pretty simple process when using Windows Vista or 7. Simply access your wireless network connections, select the wireless network and the click disconnect. Now, if you have your wireless network set as the default (youve selected always connect to this network when within range), this fix will only work until you reboot your computer. For a more permanent solution, you will need to go into your network and Internet settings (accessed through the control panel), then click on Network and Sharing Centre. Under manage wireless networks, you can toggle when to connect to the wireless connection.
