Choosing the default network card (NIC) that should access the Internet

When a machine has more than one Network Interface Card (NIC) — say a Wi-Fi adapter and an Ethernet port, or a physical NIC alongside a Virtual Private Network (VPN) adapter — Windows has to decide which one to send internet traffic through. It makes that call using the interface metric: every route has a metric value, and the interface with the lower metric wins. Usually Windows assigns metrics automatically based on link speed, but when you need to force a specific adapter to be the default, you set the metric yourself.

See the current metrics

Open Command Prompt and run:

You’ll get a list of active routes; the last column is the Metric. Lower-metric routes are preferred over higher ones, so whichever adapter carries the lowest metric on the default route (0.0.0.0) is the one currently reaching the internet.

Set the metric from the GUI

1. Open the network adapter properties: Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network Connections, then right-click the adapter and choose Properties.
2. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click Properties.
3. Click Advanced.
4. Untick Automatic metric and enter an Interface metric — for example 10 for the adapter you want preferred.
5. Click OK until all the dialogs close.
6. Repeat for each other adapter, giving them higher numbers (e.g. 20, 30) so they’re less preferred.

Or do it in one line with PowerShell

On Windows 8 and later, PowerShell is faster and scriptable. List every interface and its metric:

Note the ifIndex of the adapter you want preferred, then set its metric (run PowerShell as Administrator):

🔍 Why this works: Windows builds a routing table where each candidate route to a destination carries a metric. For the default route, it compares metrics across all interfaces and uses the lowest one. Setting a manual metric overrides the automatic, link-speed-based heuristic, so a slower-but-preferred adapter can still win.

⚠️ Heads up: the metric is set per address family. If you only adjust IPv4 but the network also offers IPv6, Windows may still prefer the other adapter over IPv6. Set the metric for IPv6 too (in the GUI under Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6), or with Set-NetIPInterface -AddressFamily IPv6), or disable IPv6 on the adapter you don’t want used.

Finally, confirm the change took effect by running route print again and checking that the default route now shows your chosen metric. Remember the rule throughout: lower metric wins.

Original technique adapted from a SpeedGuide FAQ.