How to use Wi-Fi and ethernet simultaneously on Windows 10?

Question

I have noticed recently that during downloading or updating games in my Steam library, I can somehow manage to double the speed at which this occurs by unplugging my ethernet cable, waiting a few seconds, and then plugging it back in again. This allows me to utilise both my Wi-Fi connection and my ethernet connection (to the same router) at the same time.

However, as soon as the Steam operation has completed, Windows (I believe) defaults back to only using my ethernet connection and disables the Wi-Fi.

I would like to know if there is any way to stop Windows from doing this — without the use of third-party applications — to allow me to use both connections simultaneously, or if it's just a weird thing that Steam does.

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Update: It turns out that it's not just steam that does this thing with the internet; Nvidia GeForce Experience and some other apps manage to sustain a connection over ethernet and Wi-Fi at the same time, but when the download is complete, Windows (I guess) turns off Wi-Fi connectivity and defaults to ethernet.

Answer 1

I am studying computer science at a university where I have 100mbps ethernet and 100mbps Wi-Fi available in my dorm. I have always been using the ethernet for everything as it's way more stable when downloading games than Wi-Fi which fluctuates a lot.

I wanted to combine both of them to increase my speed and looked online and found that I have to make a network bridge so that both the connections get combined. The steps are as below:

1. Go to Control Panel and click Network and Internet.
2. Click Network and Sharing Center.
3. On the left column click change adapter settings.
4. Select both the connections and right click to see options. Click network bridge.
5. Windows will automatically make a network bridge and you are done.

Answer 2

Where there is throttling on the server side, it may be possible to increase download speed by opening additional connections. The speed increase you observed is likely because you've opened a second download thread, not because you're getting throughput over Ethernet (which should be the maximum speed of the router) and WiFi (which may be slower, particularly far from the router).

You state specifically "without the use of third-party applications". In that case, you're out of luck. Microsoft Edge and IE do not offer multiple connections for a single download, though you can try this MS fix to increase number of downloads, as opposed to connections. There are add-on application managers, some installed as extensions to a browser, but they are all third-party tools. There might even be a browser with such a manger built into it, but, again, that's a third-party app.

You may reconsider and try a third-party download manager, such as Free Download Manager (FDM). In the screenshot below, the Low setting allows up to 15 simultaneous connections to one site, five connections each to three sites, or any other combination up to the total of 15 connections.

Caveats:

• Not all sites allow multiple connections. In those cases, there will be no speed increase over direct download through a browser.
• Though FDM appeared clean, check any downloaded application at VirusTotal.com. Some applications also include adware or malware, .

Answer 3

Windows will give network interface priority to Ethernet adapters, so this is likely the cause of other network interfaces (cellular, WiFi, etc) immediately turning off/ignored.

You will need to change minimize the number of simultaneous connections to the Internet or a Windows Domain to "0". Change this setting via Local group policy from control panel.

Next go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Network > Windows Connection Manager > Minimize the number of simultaneous connections to the Internet or a Windows Domain

Enable the policy and set options to "0".

Now with both interfaces connected, you should be able to have concurrent connections with no problem.