Automatic wi-fi disabling

Hi

I'm trying to see if on OSX it's possible to automatically disable wi-fi when an Ethernet cable is attached to the device. We don't want users connecting to open Wi-Fi networks when connected to the corporate LAN. I know how to do it in Windows (latest NIC drivers support it) but can't find anything about it in OSX.

Any help gratefully received

While you can't disable the WiFi on the existence of the Ethernet cable, you can set the service order to give the Ethernet connection a higher priority.

Open up System Perferences->Network and you will see a list of network devices on the left. Click on the gear icon there a a drop-down will appear. From the drop-down, chose "Set Service Order", and in the window that will appear, drag Ethernet to be the first one and then WiFi.

Additionally, for the Wifi, click on Advanced and the first tab is your preferred networks. Set the order like you want and then if you want to further lock this down, you can check on the option "Change network" under the title "Require administrator authorization to:"

When you're all done, hit the padlock icon to lock the settings and off you go..

Ashwin has forgotten more than I will ever know, so I offer this with some trepidation.

With Ethernet connected, you can click on the WiFi icon on the top Menu Bar and, from the drop down, choose "Turn WiFi on" or "Turn WiFi off".

Via System Preferences>Network, in addition to setting the order (in your case Ethernet as first choice), you can again Turn off the WiFi.

Ian

Thanks for that - I really needed to stop the users being able to turn it on when connected to the corporate network (we have regulatory requirements - PCI). Looks as though Ashwin's is the way I'm going to have to go.

Ashwin

Thanks for that - not ideal but it'll have to do. AS, in Windows, it the driver for the Ethernet card that does the work, I hope they may port that functionality over to OSX,

It's an older article but this is worth a look:

Auto-disable AirPort when ethernet is active - Mac OS X Hints

Nice find. I had completely forgotten that tip.

Nice find MrPlow, if the OP is using an account with limited control and unable to turn on WiFi when connected to Ethernet, wouldn't this script fail as well?

Raz0rEdge said:

Nice find mrplow, if the OP is using an account with limited control and unable to turn on WiFi when connected to Ethernet, wouldn't this script fail as well?

Click to expand...

You may well be right but the OP hasn't mentioned anything about account restrictions. If anything it seems like the lack of restrictions that's the issue in the first instance