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Energy-Efficient Ethernet (EEE) is an Ethernet adapter feature based on IEEE 802.3az. In Windows, you can enable or disable it through the wired adapter’s Advanced properties in Device Manager—but only if the adapter’s driver exposes the setting. Depending on the driver, it may be called “Energy Efficient Ethernet,” “Green Ethernet,” or something similar.
What Energy-Efficient Ethernet does
EEE is a network-adapter feature intended to reduce energy use. Microsoft documents the driver keyword *EEE as controlling IEEE 802.3az energy-efficient Ethernet. In the standardized configuration, 0 means Disabled and 1 means Enabled; that table lists Enabled as the default, but it does not establish that every adapter ships with EEE enabled. Microsoft’s standardized INF keyword documentation describes the setting as a value indicating whether the device should enable IEEE 802.3az energy-efficient Ethernet.
The property is driver- and adapter-dependent. Its label, availability, and default can vary, so the standardized keyword does not guarantee that a particular Windows computer will show a matching control.
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- Right-click Start and open Device Manager.
- Expand Network adapters.
- Right-click the wired Ethernet adapter you use and select Properties.
- Open the Advanced tab.
- Look for Energy Efficient Ethernet or a similar vendor-specific property. Community guidance on Microsoft Q&A also mentions labels such as Green Ethernet or Power Saving Mode; these are not universal names.
- Select Enabled to keep the feature on or Disabled to turn it off, then apply the change. If Windows asks you to restart or reconnect, follow that prompt.
The Device Manager route is practical model-dependent guidance, not a guarantee that every adapter has the same control. If you cannot find an EEE-related property, check the documentation for your adapter and driver rather than assuming another power setting will do the same job. Microsoft Q&A community guidance likewise points to the adapter’s Advanced properties while noting the issue of finding the control.
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What to do if the option is missing
A missing property usually means the installed adapter driver does not expose that control in its Windows interface; it does not prove that the standardized EEE keyword is absent from Windows documentation. Check the adapter maker’s driver documentation for the exact property name and supported configuration. Avoid changing a similarly named setting unless the driver documentation confirms it controls EEE.
EEE is not the same as Windows adapter power management
Do not confuse EEE with the Power Management tab’s “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” checkbox. Nor is EEE directly toggled by the general NetAdapter power-management commands. Microsoft documents Disable-NetAdapterPowerManagement as affecting features such as ARP offload, device sleep on disconnect, selective suspend, and wake options; its documented parameters do not provide a direct *EEE switch. Disable-NetAdapterPowerManagement documentation and Set-NetAdapterPowerManagement documentation describe those separate power-management properties. Microsoft also documents ARP and IPv6 Neighbor Solicitation as low-power protocol offloads, another example of distinct adapter features. Power-management parameter documentation
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Should you turn EEE off?
There is no universal performance winner established by the available sources. EEE is intended to improve energy efficiency, but those sources do not quantify EEE-specific energy savings, throughput effects, or stability outcomes. Disabling it therefore should not be treated as a guaranteed fix for lag, packet loss, or disconnections.
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Microsoft notes that gigabit Ethernet adapters may change link speed during transitions between low-power and fully operational states, briefly affecting connectivity. That is general guidance about low-power transitions, not a measurement of EEE’s effect. Microsoft’s gigabit Ethernet power-management considerations
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- Supported features include Wake-on-LAN function, Green Ethernet & IEEE 802.3az-2010 (Energy Efficient Ethernet)
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