W7 Network map tree with "?" between laptop and wireless router

COMPUTIAC, Browse to your router's status pages to see who's connected that should not be. Also, I wouldn't expect rebooting the PC would have any effect on rougue users connecting directly to your router.

COMPUTIAC said:

sibbil said:

COMPUTIAC, Browse to your router's status pages to see who's connected that should not be. Also, I wouldn't expect rebooting the PC would have any effect on rougue users connecting directly to your router.

OK, where exactly can I find the status pages ?
I have looked into this before but think I'm in the wrong place to find the info. This is a new router to me so I am still getting used to finding things. Any help would be appreciated.

Also what is your theory behind your statement about "Rogue Users" ?

The same scenario played out this morning again.

Rogue:

1: vagrant, tramp
2: a dishonest or worthless person : scoundrel
3: a mischievous person : scamp
4: a horse inclined to shirk or misbehave

From Rogue - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

I'm not referring to definition #4

I don't know how your router's security is set up, but if you've secured it, it's either #1, #2, or #3: somebody that breached your security and is leeching off of your network. You would have to browse through the router's configuration pages to find the status page that shows what devices are connected.

All that said, I don't think the "?" necessarily indicates a problem (ie, an unwanted user). At least from what I've observed. I've seen it on too many systems that I know are not compromised. I think Win 7 just has a problem resolving the network map properly 100% of the time.

Try this: next time you have the network map opened up and displaying as you would expect (eg, without the "?"), hit F5 to refresh the page a few times and see if the "?" appears. Or try it the other way around, when it does appear on your map, see if refreshing the window causes it to go away...

COMPUTIAC, you might want to edit your post to get rid of that MAC address.

As far as the F5 thing is concerned, try it the next time you see the "?" on the map. See if it goes away after refreshing.

For your Trendnet AP, open your browser (eg, Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.) and type each of these into the address bar one at a time to see if you can access the config pages for your AP:

192.168.1.1
192.168.10.1
192.168.10.1
192.168.0.1

One of these should work. Once you get it to open, you'll have type in your user name and/or password that you've previously assigned to it.

Oh, okay. Well, sounds as if that's your access point. I didn't realize it wasn't yours. You have a Wifi service for your building that you use for internet access?

Okay, good. But I will say if you saw a MAC address on the network map, your machine was connected in some way to it. There are multiple MACs involved: the card in your machine, your access point/router, etc.

No Update. Network Mapping is as unreliable as ever. This is just to refresh thread. I am resigning to the fact I probably will never know why I have the problem I have with "?" in network map. But I will try to keep this thread active in the hope that some all-knowing entity will deign to enlighten us with the almighty question of the question mark.