How can I write a batch file to toggle my network adapters?

Question

At my work, there is a company intranet I can connect to, as well as a Wifi network. But, it is company policy that we cannot connect to both networks simultaneously on one machine.

I need to use either network at different times though, and the only way I've been able to do so is by going to "Change Adapter Settings" somewhere in the Network section of Control Panel, then disabling whichever adapter I'm using (either local area network or wifi) and enabling the other one.

As a programmer the repetitiveness and tediousness of this task bothers me, so is there a script I could write to toggle these?

Is powershell ok? technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj130903.aspx — rene
– rene, Commented Dec 28, 2012 at 15:25

Olivier Dulac · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-28 15:54:58Z

7

You should look into netsh:

ex: netsh interface set interface "Local Area Connection" DISABLED

(or ENABLED)

create 2 scripts that do an ENABLED on the one you want and DISABLED on the other, and vice versa (or 1 script that first sees which one is up and which is down, and inverts)

This command can also list the state of the interfaces.

But it behaves differently (or uses a different syntax) between several flavors of windows... so you can also have a look at MicroSoft' devcon. Or another possibility: wmic.

edited Dec 28, 2012 at 15:54

answered Dec 28, 2012 at 15:29

Olivier Dulac

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4 Comments

Austin R Over a year ago

Is there a good way to GET whether it's enabled or disabled, for the sake of just making one script that toggles it?

Olivier Dulac Over a year ago

hmmm, netsh behaves differently on different version of windows. Have a look also at microsoft' devcon. Or another possibility: wmic

Olivier Dulac Over a year ago

I'm pretty sure you know which one is set ^^ But yes, netsh should also show you the informations about the interfaces.

Olivier Dulac Over a year ago

I'll edit my answer to reflect my comment about the other possibilities, for completeness sake

sclarson · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-28 15:24:39Z

2

You can do this with powershell and the network adapter commandlets.

Disable-NetAdapter: PS C:> Disable-NetAdapter -Name "Ethernet 2"

Enable-NetAdapter: PS C:> Enable-NetAdapter -Name "Ethernet 2"

answered Dec 28, 2012 at 15:24

sclarson

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3 Comments

Austin R Over a year ago

I'm confused, is powershell something I need to install before I can use these "commandlets"

Austin R Over a year ago

Oh whoa it's another preinstalled shell. Never knew this existed. Why does it?

sclarson Over a year ago

It exists to interacting better with .Net objects and run a full object model in a scripting environment.

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