When I reconnect the CAT5 cable connection seeing both network icons in the
system tray area, the wireless connections remains active and shows traffic.
I right-click on the wireless and Local Area Connection icons, click Status
and watch which of the connections shows traffic.
When I plug-in the CAT5 connection to the computer, Windows XP displays a
balloon message showing "Local Area Connection is now connected" and when
disconnected it shows "Local Area Connection - a network cable is
unplugged." However, Windows XP will not switch the Internet/LAN traffic to
the CAT5 connection
I disabled the wireless connection when the CAT5 cable remains connected to
the computer. The Internet/LAN traffic then goes to the Local Area
Connection. When I re-enable the wireless connection, within fifteen
seconds the Internet/LAN traffic switches from the Local Area Connection to
the wireless connection.
I find this interesting because I would have thought Windows XP would keep
the better traffic route, the CAT5 cable connection over the wireless
connection.