Why is my command prompt not responding properly to ipconfig?

Question

When I type ipconfig on my command prompt, it keeps telling me media disconnected even though my device is connected via Wifi.

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.10240]
(c) 2015 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\System32>ipconfig

Windows IP Configuration


Ethernet adapter Ethernet:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :

Wireless LAN adapter Local Area Connection* 2:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :

Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::eda0:375a:d4b6:6493%3
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.43.170
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.43.1

Tunnel adapter isatap.{248990CA-F97E-493A-BDC5-D9774098206E}:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:9d38:90d7:3083:367e:3f57:d455
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::3083:367e:3f57:d455%8
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::

C:\Windows\System32>

That's the error it shows. How can I fix this?

Answer 1

The disconnected media is reported against your other NIC devices. Unless you plug in a CAT5/6 cable and wire into your router/a hub then you'll always see the ethernet port as disconnected.

You can filter the result set by passing in /showclassid as per https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/ipconfig

Answer 2

If you don't like seeing your disconnected adapters in ipconfig, you could disable them in Device Manager, under Network adapters.

You will need to enable them again if, for example, you would like to connect an Ethernet cable to your Ethernet port.