Bridging wifi and ethernet connections – wifi keeps disconnecting

Question

Hi all,

I am trying to use Windows 10 to bridge my wifi connection to non wifi devices. I have successfully setup the bridge in Network Connections. However, the wifi only stays connected for a few seconds before it disconnects (everything is working as expected, with wired devices having internet access, until wifi disconnects). This seems to be something to do with the ethernet cable being connected, as when I disconnect the ethernet the wifi stays connected.

Things I have tried:

• Turning off power management and checking bios for any funky power management settings
• Setting "Priority & VLAN" to disabled
• Disabling "Automatic metic" and setting wifi to priority order – though you don't seem to be able to change this for specific connections when bridged.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated. The machine is an Intel NUC if that is useful information.

P.S. everything works fine with bridge disabled and using internet connection sharing enabled on the wifi. However I am unable to connect to devices such as printers (hence why I am trying bridged mode).

Answer 1

Hello @Haniel Moore

Thank you for sharing this on this community space.

I wonder if you have reviewed the next documents down below and this might fit into your case scenario stated previously.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/networking/vm-lose-network-connectivity-broadcom

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/networking/automatic-metric-for-ipv4-routes

Let me know if that was useful but if not, I can keep assisting you further.

Looking forward to your feedback,

Cheers,

Please "Accept the answer" if the information helped you. This will help us and others in the community as well.

Answer 2

Hi. Thank you for your question and reaching out.

Restarting the modem and router is the first thing to attempt when having internet problems. It is really quick, simple, and efficient. This usually makes the issue go away.

For a modem, router, or gateway (modem/router combo equipment), the restart procedure is the same:

1. Remove the power cable from the back of the apparatus.
2. pause for 60 seconds.
3. Reconnect the power cable.
4. As the equipment restarts, wait.

If the reply was helpful, please don’t forget to upvote or accept as answer, thank you.

Answer 3

Thanks to everyone who helped me try and solve this. I have managed to fix this and it is now working fine.

Here is what I did, though I'm not 100% sure which part solved the issue.

1. Removed the existing network bridge.
2. Set the adapter metrics to the way I wanted them (wifi the priority)
3. Followed the steps outlined in this thread link below – except the GPO path part, as I didn't know how to do that (https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/wifi-disconnects-when-ethernet-is-plugged-in/00329022-6cad-4ea4-8a0a-ab1e38812e32)
4. Recreated network bridge

Any questions please ask.

Answer 4

Hello There.

I faced the same problem running on Windows 10, Dell Inspiron 15 3000, then I managed to solve it after several attempts figure out that the main problem is with the "Power Management" option, just follow the following steps:

1- Create the Bridge Network between WiFi and Ethernet adapters

2- Double Click the Network Bridge

3- On Network Bridge Status choose "Properties"

4- Click on Configure

5- Choose "Power Management" and Un-Select "Allow the Computer to turn off this device to save power"

Good luck and best wishes.