0

I have a Windows 10 machine which I use with Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 and Hyper-V.

The installation of Hyper-V is new and after enabling it my "network connections" looks like this: enter image description here

When I run ipconfig I can see:

Ethernet adapter vEthernet (New Virtual Switch):

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : attlocal.net

Is my first and main ethernet adapter. My actual main adapter, the one called "Ethernet" does not even show up on the list.

Questions:

  • What are these vEthernet Switches?
  • Why is my computer not using the native Ethernet switch anymore?
  • Are there performance implications do this?
  • What are the various 172.x.x.x IP addresses assigned to the other Virtual switches?
  • How does this affect local (127.0.0.1) loopback addressing?

Update

When I run ipconfig /all I still see all of the vEthernet switches but I do not see what used to be my default interface the one just called "Ethernet", listed.

Am I using it?

What is going on?

Improve this question
6
  • 1
    Its the virtual ethernet adapter for Hyper-V>>>>>altaro.com/hyper-v/the-hyper-v-virtual-switch-explained-part-1
    – Moab
    Commented Feb 13, 2021 at 23:21
  • Run ipconfig /all
    – Moab
    Commented Feb 13, 2021 at 23:24
  • 1
    Your computer is using your switch, but your VM's are using the virtual switches. They are Hyper-V devices and can generally be ignored as long as things are working right. the 172.16.0.0/12 addresses are private IP addressing space used by your VM system for various purposes and is used by default because although 172.16.0.0/12 is private IP space, but few device use that be default and typically use something in the 192.168.0.0/16 or 10.0.0.0/8 IP address ranges.
    – acejavelin
    Commented Feb 13, 2021 at 23:41
  • 1
    Beginning with Windows 10 v1709 and later releases a new switch named Default Switch is created whenever the Hyper-V role is installed, aimed to provide an easy networking solution for virtual machines, the Default Switch allows virtual machines to share the host’s network connection using NAT similar to the way of Internet Connection Sharing (ICS).
    – Candy
    Commented Feb 18, 2021 at 7:58
  • The Hyper-V Default Switch will randomly use one these IP address ranges based on the host system IP address: Start IP: 192.168.0.0 – End IP: 192.168.255.255 Start IP: 172.17.0.0 – End IP: 172.31.255.255
    – Candy
    Commented Feb 18, 2021 at 7:59

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

Vethernet switches are part of the system allowing network access for the VMs and other aspects of Hyper-V.

Do not remove or modify them unless you know what you are doing.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .