Two new locations showing in Network?

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  1. Posts : 242
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
       #1

    Two new locations showing in Network?


    Those last two--where could they have come from?

      My Computer


  2. Posts : 2,752
    Windows 7 Pro x64 (1), Win7 Pro X64 (2)
       #2

    Do you have a WiFi NIC in your machine?

    Looks like nearby wireless networks from neighbors that you're now picking up?
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 242
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
    Thread Starter
       #3

    i don't know what a Wifi NIC is, but I doubt it, this is a desktop machine. How can I get rid of those?
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 2,752
    Windows 7 Pro x64 (1), Win7 Pro X64 (2)
       #4

    (1) NIC = network interface controller, or network interface card, or "network adapter".

    Most desktop machines have at least ordinary "wired" ethernet ports, for a wired connection to your home wired/wireless router or cable modem, etc. These show up in Device Manager as part of the "network adapters" group.

    Newer desktop machines can also have "wireless" adapters, to optionally connect wirelessly to your home wired/wireless router if you don't have ethernet cables running from your desktop machine location to where the router is. This is the same as your smart phone or other wireless device or gaming console does with its "WiFi" feature enabled, to freely connect to the Internet through your home (or restaurant, etc.) wireless router rather than say using 3G/4G connectivity (which might cost money for metered data usage, not to mention would possibly be slower than a high-speed home broadband ISP service available wirelessly through a router).

    And of course, most modern laptops have both. You can thus use either (a) ethernet ports for a wired connection to a local router or switch, or (b) wireless (aka WiFi) capability for a wireless connection to a nearby "WiFi hotspot" (which could be your home wireless router, or outside public WiFi capability like in the airport or restaurants, etc.).

    For example, I'm writing this right now while working on my W530 laptop, which is connected "wireless" to my home WiFi wireless network and then out to the Internet. Actually, because of distances, I'm actually connecting to a "wireless access point" in my kitchen (where I have a Netgear WN604 WAP connected "wired" to my Netgear WNDR4000 router in the back bedroom). Both of my two desktop machines are connected "wired" using their own gigabit NIC connectors to the gigabit router, through Cat6 ethernet cable running directly from the back bedroom to the locations in the house where the two desktop machines live.

    So, if I look at Device Manager on my W530 laptop and expand "network adapters", I see the following:



    Note that my laptop also contains a wired NIC option (Intel 82579LM) but I'm not using it at the moment, but rather am operating wireless through the Intel Centrino 6205 wireless NIC.

    So, if I look at my own Network layout, I see the following (i.e. two desktops, MDR and DFW, and one laptop, W530):




    (2) As far as your own mysterious two strange network items, can you please describe your own equipment and home LAN networking configuration, wired vs. wireless, brand/model of routers, etc.

    If you go to Control Panel -> Network and Internet -> Network and Sharing Center, you should see a basic diagram of how your computer gets to the Internet, like the following:



    If you then click on the "see full map" link (upper-right corner), you will see a more detailed layout of how all the current members of your home network are configured together. This should provide some information that might help us figure out what/where those two mysterious items are coming from. Might be a smart phone with "hot spot" turned on, or who knows what.

    For example, in my own network case, the detailed full map looks as follows:




    I don't know what those two objects are on your home network, but if you can provide some additional info as I've requested above, maybe we can figure it out.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 242
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
    Thread Starter
       #5

    well, I'd like to be able to do that---but now that I go back to look again----they are both gone!
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 4,161
    Windows 7 Pro-x64
       #6

    eknirb said:
    Those last two--where could they have come from?

    Those are PCs connected to your network. If you share files, "they" probably have a copy of everything you share.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 242
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
    Thread Starter
       #7

    we have two PCs connected to a router. how could this happen? U mean those two PCs copied everything in my PC? I also don't think that our router is "locked down" or whatever it is called.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 242
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
    Thread Starter
       #8

    In Network and Sharing Center, should I turn off 'network discovery' and turn on 'password protected sharing?'
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 2,752
    Windows 7 Pro x64 (1), Win7 Pro X64 (2)
       #9

    eknirb said:
    well, I'd like to be able to do that---but now that I go back to look again----they are both gone!
    Very suspicious. Somehow they "got onto your network", behind the firewall of your router. I suspect they were "wireless".

    Do you have security disabled?? No passwords needed for wired or wireless connections? Do you have Windows password enabled for the users on your two desktops?

    For example, in my Netgear WNDR4000 wired/wireless router there is a way that you can disable security although that is definitely NOT the default. And with security enabled there is also a "passphrase" (password) that you can specify.



    Please provide LOTS of detail, with brand/model of your router. Also please say what your wireless -> security settings are.

    I'd suggest you CHANGE the wireless password on your router immediately.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 242
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
    Thread Starter
       #10

    It is a 824WPN v3 Netgear Rangemax Wireless Router. I don't know much about the router- it's my wife's area of expertise.
      My Computer


 
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