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XPS 13 9365 - Disable Wifi when docked
Hello
I am trying to disable the WiFi on my XPS 13 9365 when docked. I prefer to use the Wired connection. I cannot find a setting / option to allow this. I tried updating my drivers via the Dell Command Update. I downloaded the Intel ProSET driver / utility from Intel for this adapter (but it wants me to import a profile, which i cannot seem to find). Went through the BIOS to see if there was an option (like the older latitudes).
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank You.
jphughan
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December 13th, 2017 11:00
WiFi does not auto-disable, and there probably isn't an option to do this. Some systems had a BIOS-level option to enable this, but that required you to be using a wired NIC built into the system itself (or the old-style dock, which tapped into the built-in NIC), whereas the WD15 and TB16 docks have their own full NIC hardware built into them. However, Windows often IS smart enough to prefer wired connections when they're available anyway. If you want to verify this, open Task Manager, click More Options, go to the Performance tab, and then start streaming video or running a speed test or something. See which network adapter shows the spike in traffic.
Also note that in some cases, Windows will actually use BOTH interfaces simultaneously to increase throughput. That's part of the SMB 3.0 spec, but that admittedly only comes into play when you're communicating with another system running Windows 8 / Server 2012 or better.
Saltgrass
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December 13th, 2017 10:00
It should disable automatically. Most computers will disable Wi-Fi when Ethernet is available.
If not, open the connections panel (ncpa.cpl) and disable the Wi-Fi adapter there.
You have installed the Ethernet driver for the dock?
pmeetin0909
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December 13th, 2017 12:00
Yeah, I guess it is what it is. I was just reaching out to see if anyone else knew if this was an available option. With out older computers it is. Thank you.
pmeetin0909
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December 13th, 2017 12:00
Unfortunately I cannot just disable the WiFi. These computers are for our end users. Simpler is better. Our older laptops had the option in the BIOS, but this one doesn't seem to have it. When I connect to the Ethernet and WiFi I see the following screenshot. I guess it is what it is. We just didn't want our computers to be obtaining 2 IP addresses if it wasn't necessary.
Saltgrass
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December 13th, 2017 12:00
This is what I get after connecting to the TB 16..
pmeetin0909
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December 13th, 2017 13:00
This computer is brand new out of the box as of this morning. It has only connected to 1 wireless network and 1 wired network. I double checked the mobile hotspot options and it's off. It's never connected to anything Bluetooth. Pretty much all windows settings are default.
Thank you for the information.
Saltgrass
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December 13th, 2017 13:00
There are some options you might check, namely related to Wi-Fi hotspots and whether you allow the system to connect to those. Perhaps it is connecting to another network.
My adapter did still show connected for a short time after I reconnected to the Dock but dropped back to disconnected. I haven't seen a setting to disconnect automatically on either the computer or Router.
jphughan
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December 13th, 2017 13:00
If avoiding multiple IPs for a given system is important, I would imagine there are third-party utilities you could find that will either disconnect from WiFi or completely disable the WiFi adapter whenever they detect that a wired Ethernet adapter has an IP (WMI provides a way for applications to differentiate wired vs. WiFi adapters, so this wouldn't be difficult), but for the reasons I explained above, new systems that lack built-in wired Ethernet chips lack the BIOS-level option that old systems had, and Windows doesn't natively support this either, likely because it's explicitly designed to take advantage of situations where multiple adapters are connected to the same network.