Belkin router... An unfamiliar address

[simono1]

Hi again everyone,

The story today is.. I was talking with an instructor in college about routers. I told him I have a Belkin which is both wire and wireless. I stated we were not using the wireless part and he asked if I had turned that part of it off. I said no, and began to look for the wireless mode (which I haven't found yet) and came across something else. We have 2 computers, and I can see them in the setup area but, there is also another address there: what is this ip address (192.168.3.5) host name (ours-ay4j91epjq) mac address (00-02-A5-B7-2F-F8)

Once we had HP's help service remotely connect to one of the computers. I'm wondering if that is what this is. I would of thought they would at least have (hp) somewhere in the address. Anyway, I tried to refresh as it instructs but it is still there... leaving me to believe that there is still a connection here. I do not want anything else connected to this router if possible.

Q: Is this necessary?

Thank you,

Simono1

Remote access is disabled and so is Guest.

 

[sordid]

Any IP in the 192.168.x.x range is from your local intranet.
Seems like somebody is using your WLAN for internet access, mate.

 

[Kari]

Any IP in the 192.168.x.x range is from your local intranet.
Seems like somebody is using your WLAN for internet access, mate.

+1

If, as you told, you do not use the wireless connection, switch it off from router's control panel. It really seems that someone is using your WiFi. If you for instance have a volume based ISP contract, at the end it's you who has to pay.

Kari

 

[simono1]

Ok... shut the wireless off. Am I correct in saying that the 2 addresses that our ours, are the only ones that should be able to use our connection?

 

[sordid]

Absolutely.
What kind of encryption are you using? Basically, with WEP you can as well completely disable encryption since everybody and their granny can easily compromise it and use it to their desire. Use WPA at least if possible.

 

[simono1]

Let me check this out....

 

[FliGi7]

I'd leave the wireless on.

Turning WiFi Thieves Worlds Upside Down

But, that's just me.

 

[simono1]

I'm showing: WPA\WPA2 In security mode and PSK password, and 8-63 characters as the passphrase. There is also a password.... of course.

 

[James Colbert]

Ok... shut the wireless off. Am I correct in saying that the 2 addresses that our ours, are the only ones that should be able to use our connection?

Do you have a printer, kindle or any other device that uses your wireless connection? If so, it likely is using the .5 address. If not, you can and should turn the wireless off (you can verify by removing the address and see if the device can connect). No point in leaving it on if your not using it, for security reasons if no other. I have a wired network with a wireless AP. It has a very strong passphrase and I disconnect it when not in use.

Also, be sure that you have changed the default password on whatever router (or both) you will use. Use strong passwords. In fact, it may not be a bad idea to change any passwords you have now, for routers, computers, devices and user accounts. Always use strong passwords. You can download Password Safe for free and keep all your passwords in it. That way, you only have to remember that one password, but the others are at your fingertips when needed, and can simply be copied and pasted in.



James

 

[Kari]

Do you have a mobile phone or for instance a WiFi printer? Before turning WiFi off, be sure that that unknown device is not one of yours.

Using WPA2 / PSK with a good passphrase should be be quite secure. What about the credentials for the web interface of your router? If you have not set your own password for that, by default Belkin routers come with no admin password so anyone within the radius of your router can simply login to it by giving the address http://192.168.2.1 and clicking Login. Then it's easy to check the password for Belkin has this "feature" to show password / phrase instead of just showing *-signs for each character.

What I mean is that if you are sure you do not need WiFi, turn it off and relax. If you want to leave it on, set both router's web interface password and WPA2 / PSK passphrase as strong and complicated as possible.

How to set router web interface password: Belkin : Support Setting the router's administrator password

Kari

EDIT:

Added a screenshot to show how to get a random, strong WPA/PSK password generated in Belkin routers. Wanted also show this IMO quite stupid system of Belkin's, to show the password. It can be hidden but the user must only untick the box Obscure PSK to see it. This way, anyone able to login to control panel can see what the PSK is.

The password generator is visible when you select Enabled in Guest account settings. Generate a password, then disable Guest settings again and use generated password as WPA2/PSK passphrase.

 

[FliGi7]

How to set router web interface password: Belkin : Support Setting the router's administrator password

Just completely disable the web interface. How often does one need to reconfigure their router from the internet? That's just asking for more trouble than it's worth, unless you are doing some serious home network system admin stuff. But if that's the case, you're better off using VPN or SSH.

 

[Kari]

I've used Belkin routers quite a many years now, never even known that it would be possible to disable admin control panel (web interface) of them.

And, at least I find it would be a really stupid thing to do. That web interface is the only possibility to configure the router. When disabled (if even possible?) the only way to reconfigure would be the factory reset.

Kari

P.S. It might of course be that English not being my native language I am using a wrong expression. With Web Interface of Belkin routers I mean the admin control panel, which as far as I know can only be accessed from router using its IP address, thus the expression Web Interface.

 

[FliGi7]

I've used Belkin routers quite a many years now, never even known that it would be possible to disable admin control panel (web interface) of them.

And, at least I find it would be a really stupid thing to do. That web interface is the only possibility to configure the router. When disabled (if even possible?) the only way to reconfigure would be the factory reset.

Kari

P.S. It might of course be that English not being my native language I am using a wrong expression. With Web Interface of Belkin routers I mean the admin control panel, which as far as I know can only be accessed from router using its IP address, thus the expression Web Interface.

I'm sorry, it was my fault, not yours. I am thinking web (internet) based access, which routers like Linksys provide for whatever reason to allow one to connect to it from the internet. The name just now came to mind and it's called remote management, which I was confusing with the internal-only web configuration utility that has nothing to do with this. Sorry!

 

[Kari]

No problem

Kari

 

[simono1]

Thanks you guys...

There is no other devices connected to the system by wireless. Thank you for that info... didn't think of that at all.

James Colbert... Strong password it is! and what a great idea for storing passwords, and I will change all others. Hate the thought but, it's a must.

Kari... I'm going to read up on link you gave and I didn't know that you could just simply see someone password with an uncheck. They gotta change that.....
Will create strong password with your recommendations.

I'll report back for follow-up

Todd

 

[RayFinkle]

If it helps, that MAC address is for a Hewlett Packard device. Are you sure one of your PCs or printers does not have wifi built-in and enabled, even though you aren't intentionally using it?

 

[simono1]

If it helps, that MAC address is for a Hewlett Packard device. Are you sure one of your PCs or printers does not have wifi built-in and enabled, even though you aren't intentionally using it?

At one time we need a device that we plugged into the USB port to receive the signal from the Belkin router, which probably turn it on. It loaded drivers on my pc but couldn't on the other. The other computer was custom built and was not equip with a wireless card. We just said the heck with it. Maybe that's where the address came from? Well, it's shut-down now, thanks to you-all

Todd

Also, in the remote setting place where you can add an address, which also has a check box, so you can get-into your router from anywhere on the net. The address box'es has all 0's in it but, there is a port number there. Is this for just in case you decide to use it?

 

[simono1]

So far so good... new password, wireless- shut-down, rebooted and great!! Oh, how do I get-rid of that other address? couldn't seem to find where to do this at.

Thank you so much for your help;

Todd

 

[RayFinkle]

simono1, are you saying that your router still shows that MAC address/host as connected?

There's NO WAY a hacker could have connected to your wireless router that fast if you're really are running WPA2!!

Does your router have any times related to that host?

One option you have is MAC address filtering. By now you know the MAC addresses of your 2 PCs. You can set up your router to ONLY allow those 2 MAC addresses to connect and then you are set.

The only caveat is MAC address spoofing. But, let's take this one step at a time.

 

[Kari]

simono1, are you saying that your router still shows that MAC address/host as connected?

There's NO WAY a hacker could have connected to your wireless router that fast if you're really are running WPA2!!

Belkin routers have a mysterious habit to show old entries on the DHCP Client List. I've had several Belkin's and am used to see an inaccurate list; it might not show devices recently connected, showing some devices that have not been connected in quite a while. Refreshing the list helps sometimes, not always.

Screenshot here shows for instance that all these devices should be connected, although those two marked here most certainly are not, and haven't been in hours:



Kari