How do I set my range extender as the default Network connection?

Charles,

You can check the priority order has been set correctly in
Settings, Network, WiFi, Manage known networks
if you Sort by - Preferred order [i.e. priority order]

You also need to check that the lower priority networks have been told to release their connection if a higher priority one appears ["autoswitching"] and that the highest priority one has been told not to.

There's a TenForumsTutorial on this
Change Wireless Network Connection Priority Order - TenForumsTutorial
Turn on or off AutoSwitch for WiFi - TenForumsTutorials
I do not know if this advice differs from the article you referred to.

All the best,
Denis

Charles,

Windows only asks you if you want to make a network discoverable the first time you connect to it.
- Making a network connection discoverable is what you do when making it a "Private" network.

- On a Private network you want the computers to be able to see each other.
- On a Public network, such as your connection to the internet, you do not want other computers to be able to see yours.

- Turn On or Off Network Discovery - TenForumsTutorials - Note its Option 2 reference to 'Change advanced sharing settings' because it is always worth checking that they are all as you wish them to be.
- Set Network Location to Private, Public - TenForumsTutorials

Your comment "Autoswitching was on" worries me. It is set independently for each network.
For example, I allow auto-switching for all my lower priority networks but not for my main network. My main network has auto-switching off because I never want it to yield its connection in favour of any others but, if the main network suddenly appears, I want all others to yield their connections in favour of it.

If priorities & auto-switching are set appropriately then you should be able to let your "regular" WiFi connection stay as an automatic connection. You can set this in Settings, Network, WiFi, Manage known networks. But don't just connect to it manually in order to set it up because connecting to a network manually sends it to the top of the priority list so you'll have to set priorities up again.

The TenForumsTutorials I have given you links for and the TenForumsTutorial you posted a link for are correct, consistent & relevant. The Windows Central link you originally posted is about a completely different aspect of networking that does not seem, to me, to be related to your problem.

I have not had to re-set my priorities & auto-switching for ages now but I used to find it necessary after some Version updates. I run a batch file to set them up the way I want.

If you would like to tell me the names used for
- your WiFi adapter [in Network & sharing centre, Change adapter settings]
- your WiFi networks [in Settings, Network, WiFi, Manage known networks] and their priority order
then I can post a batch file tailored to your needs. That way all you will ever need to do is run the batch file to reset priorities & auto-switching the way you want them.

Denis

Charles,

CharlesI said:

I don't know what you mean by "lower level networks" - I am using one home network with Wi-Fi and a Ranger Extender

I referred to lower priority network because there is nothing to stop you setting up automatic signing in to your main WiFi network as well [in case it might ever be the only one switched on or you happen to have wandered nearer to it than to your extender] - providing that you set a lower priority for it and that you set autoswitchign to make it yield in favour of the higher priority extender network.

CharlesI said:

[As for AutoSwitching in How to Turn On or Off AutoSwitch for Wireless Network Connection in Windows 10 Option Four in the tutorial's screen shots are different than what appears in my current (latest updated) version of Windows. There is no "General" tab, only "Network" and "Sharing" tabs so there is no "Wireless Properties" button to click on.

That tutorial has no option 4.

By the way, you messed up the hyperlink, here's the correct one again Turn on or off AutoSwitch for WiFi - TenForumsTutorials

But Option 1 Step 3 has changed, you now get the WiFi Status dialog by clicking on the View status of this connection item in the row above them.

That gets you to the diagram in Option 1 Step 4 so I think it was what you meant.

CharlesI said:

[Also, in Wi-Fi there was no "currently connected" Wi-Fi shown until I went into Status and clicked on the "Properties" button in there - now it shows up in Wi-Fi as pictured in the tutorial.

I'm getting a bit lost. I don't know where you are referring to so I can't look for myself to think about what's going wrong. I imagine that the problem at Option 1 Step 3 threw you off track anyway.

CharlesI said:

Finally, I also have a 50 foot Ethernet cable, which, if I'm correct, I believe will provide a stronger connection for Skype and Zoom than the Range Extender, despite its length. If I plug in the Ethernet cable I see that it does appear to be active in Network Connections. Does it automatically take precedence over the Wi-Fi connections?

I think Ethernet adapters have priority by default.
To check the Ethernet / WiFi adapter priority -

Network & sharing centre,
Change adapter settings,
Advanced menu,
Advanced settings,
In the dialog that appears, look in the Adapters & bindings tab - Yours will list the name of your Ethernet adapter and the name of your WiFi adapter.,

Select one of the adapters and use the up/down arrow buttons to give priority to the one you want.

Diagram deleted as well. See posts #7, #8.


Denis

Hi Denis, what OS is being displayed in your post above for setting network connection priority?
I thought that feature had been deprecated for Windows 10 and now looks very different.

It certainly looks easier to set using PowerShell (Admin).

Change Network Adapter Connection Priorities in Windows 10

Charles,

For the Ethernet vs WiFi priority setting, use the tutorial W10 tweaker posted. I had searched for it earlier on but failed to find it.

Change Network Adapter Connection Priorities - TenForumsTutorials

Denis

[My diagram was dated. It was the only example of my own I could find and did not notice its date when I posted it.]

CharlesI said:

So if I understand this correctly, the Interface Metric number has to be the number assigned in the PowerShell. However, this gives me no idea which connection is the regular Wi-Fi and which one is the range extender. I tried connecting to the Wi-Fi and then to the Wi-Fi Extender and there was no change in the Disconnected and Connected list below.

Keep in mind, the WiFi Network connection for the PC, doesn't matter if it's for the Extender or the principal WiFi router, there's only 2 WiFi connections.

The lower #8 is for IPv4 and the upper, IPv6. Chances are, you also use IPv6, depending on your ISP and modem/router. You should also change the priority of the IPv6 to match the IPv4 connection.




You can test your Network connection for IPv6 here. Test your IPv6.
My connection is an old Bell Wireless Rocket Hub, I have yet to successfully obtain an IPv6 connection.


This is the same PowerShell from my PC.
I'm not certain why yours has important columns missing like Address Family and MTU.
I'd be interested to know, anyone???

CharlesI said:

Good to know that you need to click "View status of this connection" in order to get Wi-Fi Status. But being hidden under the down arrow at the right of the screenshot it should be noted in the instructions.

As far as the confusion around the no "currently connected" shown in Wi-Fi until I went into Status and clicked on the "Properties" this is what I meant:



Very strange. Maybe some weird thing with my particular laptop.

Maybe I'm not certain what you're looking for in the way of a connection status. If you simply pass your mouse over the WiFi icon on the taskbar, it will indicate that you're connected and have internet access.