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When I am connected to cellular broadband and a local wireless network simultaneously, it seems that internet requests go over the local network, which is logical for cost and performance reasons except when local network loses internet connectivity.

Is it possible to access the internet over cellular broadband when the local wireless has no internet access while remaining connected with both networks?

Just to clarify:

  • Connecting over cellular only: The internet is accessible but (obviously) not the local network.
  • Connecting over wireless only works to reach the local network.
  • When the internet to the local wireless is down, connecting to both cellular and local wireless makes it impossible to access the Internet. Windows actually shows Mobile Broadband has Internet Access and Wireless Network has No Internet Access.

So why does it not access the internet through the one that has internet access?

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    When you say WiFi do you mean a 3G/4G Cellular?
    – Ramhound
    May 3, 2014 at 20:15
  • No. By WiFi I mean a local wireless (802.11n) network and by broadband I mean a cellular network (currently 4G LTE)
    – Itai
    May 4, 2014 at 1:10
  • Feel free to update your question to use the correct terms. Because what you describe isn't broadband.
    – Ramhound
    May 4, 2014 at 1:37
  • Looks like a bit of localization was implied, so I looked up the terms according to Wikipedia. Here when a company sells broadband service, they always mean cellular broadband. I see even the WiFi qualifies as broadband, hence the confusion.
    – Itai
    May 4, 2014 at 4:04

2 Answers 2

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If by 'broadband' you mean hooking from your PC's Ethernet jack to a router, switch, modem, then you should be able to merely disconnect from Wifi altogether using whatever Network Manager software (Usually a Wifi/Network Icon in your System Tray), and the broadband connection will take over completely. Most Network Management softwares display an icon, which can change to inform you of current network status. Also, most Laptops have a special switch to manually disable WiFi; often the color switches from Blue to Yellow/Orange/Red when turned off.

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  • Sorry, did I mix up my terminology? WiFi was meant to be the wireless 802.11n network created by my router. No ethernet jack is involved here. As I mentioned, connecting to broadband only works but I lose access to my local network (printer, file server, etc) which is why I am asking the question :)
    – Itai
    May 4, 2014 at 1:16
  • @smackyboy OP is probably talking about a PC with an integrated cellular modem like some of the newer Lenovo and Dell laptops. So both connections OP are talking about are wireless. Jan 26, 2022 at 5:17
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So there is one fundamental problem here...

And that is Windows doesn't do anything about a bad connection.

This is intentional. While Windows is marketed to consumers who would like their network to auto-switch on a poor connection, Windows is also implemented in IT structures and server applications where connectivity to an external ISP is not always required/desired.

The only thing you can do is change the adapter priority using control panel to the more reliable connection, but this would be an undesirable or bad solution in your case, because your device will never use the wifi connection when you are connected to a cell network.

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    – Community Bot
    Jan 26, 2022 at 5:35

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