Windows 8 doesn't automatically join Wi-Fi network if Ethernet connection is active
- by Herb Caudill
In Windows 7, my laptop would automatically join both an Ethernet network and the Wi-Fi network in my house (both going through the same router).
In Windows 8, if the Ethernet connection is present, it doesn't join the Wi-Fi network at all. The reason I noticed this is that if Wi-Fi isn't active, I don't see my AirPlay speakers. My wireless printer is also unavailable until I manually connect to Wi-Fi.
To recap: When I turn on my computer and it's connected to Ethernet, this is what my Network Connections control panel looks like:
After I manually join my Wi-Fi network, it looks like this:
I would prefer for it to join both networks automatically on startup, the way it did in Windows 7. Is there a way to make this happen?