I used to do this all the time in XP with no lapse in internet connection, but something about Windows 7 is different: I'd have a laptop connected wirelessly to my everyday-use wireless network. All works fine.I'd have a new router to set up, and I'd plug directly into that router for initial configuration purposes (computer plugged into a port on the router, but the router NOT plugged into the internet yet (until later, after setup/security/etc. is mostly complete)). I'd still have my everyday use Wifi connection still active.And in Windows XP, plugging into the new router never interrupted my overall internet connectivity from the Wifi connection, but when I do the same thing in Windows 7, as soon as I plug in the temporary new router, all internet (and even access to the already running wifi's local console) goes away.It's not the end of the world, just an annoyance: Especially when I'm almost done, and I also want to test WAN side access to remote configuration of the new router. What's causing the difference? Thanks in advance!

The central mechanism in this case is NLA - Network Location Awarness. Look here for some hints: http://blog.superuser.com/2011/05/16/windows-7-network-awareness/ http://blogs.technet.com/b/networking/archive/2010/09/08/network-location-awareness-nla-and-how-it-relates-to-windows-firewall-profiles.aspx and from the point of view of developer http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee264321(v=vs.85).aspx Regards Milos

Open control panel and go to network and sharing center. Then on the left go to "Change Adapter Settings". Now hold down alt and let it go once the new screen displays. You should see a new menu up top after you let go of alt. Click on Advanced here and then go to Advanced Settings. Here you will see your network connections and in what order they will be accessed. Put the wireless network all the way at the top with the Local Ethernet connection 2nd. See if this solves your problem.

Thanks, Milos and Ang... Both very helpful. I haven't had a chance to test this out, but I''ll update this when I do!

One additional comment. If ethernet and WiFi are on different subnets, they will work both. This will not be the case when both interconnections are about to connect to the same subject. Generally, what worked smoothly in Windows XP need not work in Windows 7. Windows XP is now more than decade old. Personaly I prefer to discover than to compare. Regards Milos