I recently upgraded to NIS 2011 and now there is an offline unknown device that Norton is seeing as a Cisco-Linksys Router/Switch. In the Windows 7 Network and Sharing Center it shows up as a Linksys Wireless-G Router model WRT54G2 with a different MAC than mine. In addition, my Router is a Linksys E3000 Wireless-N.
This is the same problem described by someone else in the attached link. I doubt it is a coincidence that it happened to both of us after upgrading to NIS 2011. What could it be?
I recently upgraded to NIS 2011 and now there is an offline unknown device that Norton is seeing as a Cisco-Linksys Router/Switch. In the Windows 7 Network and Sharing Center it shows up as a Linksys Wireless-G Router model WRT54G2 with a different MAC than mine. In addition, my Router is a Linksys E3000 Wireless-N.
This is the same problem described by someone else in the attached link. I doubt it is a coincidence that it happened to both of us after upgrading to NIS 2011. What could it be?
ChesterK wrote:The network map may have picked up on a previous device that was connected to the network at the time. Please see the latest update to the thread you linked.
The mystery router is not mine and was never connected to my network. The strange thing is that it is not always in the W7 Network Sharing Center. It's as if it is going in and out of range. Why would someone else's router show up on the map and in my Network as an infrastructure device?
I can see many routers on the 'Connect to' list where you would expect to see them. Why would one make it to the network security map as an offline device?
car825 wrote:I recently upgraded to NIS 2011 and now there is an offline unknown device that Norton is seeing as a Cisco-Linksys Router/Switch. In the Windows 7 Network and Sharing Center it shows up as a Linksys Wireless-G Router model WRT54G2 with a different MAC than mine. In addition, my Router is a Linksys E3000 Wireless-N.
This is the same problem described by someone else in the attached link. I doubt it is a coincidence that it happened to both of us after upgrading to NIS 2011. What could it be?
I'm beginning to think the unknown device on Network Security Map is someone else's router that is configured for Wifi Protected Setup. Can someone confirm that a router configured this way will appear on the Network Security Map as an offline device even though it was never in my network? I thought the map was only supposed to show in-network devices.
car825 wrote:
car825 wrote:I recently upgraded to NIS 2011 and now there is an offline unknown device that Norton is seeing as a Cisco-Linksys Router/Switch. In the Windows 7 Network and Sharing Center it shows up as a Linksys Wireless-G Router model WRT54G2 with a different MAC than mine. In addition, my Router is a Linksys E3000 Wireless-N.
This is the same problem described by someone else in the attached link. I doubt it is a coincidence that it happened to both of us after upgrading to NIS 2011. What could it be?
I'm beginning to think the unknown device on Network Security Map is someone else's router that is configured for Wifi Protected Setup. Can someone confirm that a router configured this way will appear on the Network Security Map as an offline device even though it was never in my network? I thought the map was only supposed to show in-network devices.
I am concerned that NIS 2011 is showing a router that is not mine on the Network Security Map. My understanding is that the map is only supposed to show my in-network devices. I would feel better if someone could confirm that the map incorrectly shows 'unknown' routers with Wifi Protected Setup enabled as being in-network when they are really not part of the network. If there is a different explanation, I would like to hear that too.
I notice that there are a few users on the Linksys support forum complaining of the same problem. It may show in the router access point or in the security software apparently. Have you checked in your router for settings that may shed some light on the issue?
Do you have a MAC access control in your router settings?
Since the routers are so close in manuafacture, and presumably close geographically, there may be some confusion if your network card isn't sure which one to connect to.
delphinium wrote:I notice that there are a few users on the Linksys support forum complaining of the same problem. It may show in the router access point or in the security software apparently. Have you checked in your router for settings that may shed some light on the issue?
Do you have a MAC access control in your router settings?
Since the routers are so close in manuafacture, and presumably close geographically, there may be some confusion if your network card isn't sure which one to connect to.
Thanks for the suggestion. I verified that the problem is not being caused by my router by switching back to my old D-Link DIR 655 router. The mystery device was still there. I deleted it from the map and it returned. I think NIS may have a problem here. The map is only supposed to show devices that are in my network. Correct? Why is it showing someone else's router that I have never connected to?
If my network card was confused about which router to connect to, why would NIS show the unknown router as already being in my network? I would expect it to be on the 'connect to' list with all the other routers in the area. When it is on the map NIS is telling me it is already in my network. The map is not supposed to show me routers that I could connect to. If I understand it correctly it is only supposed to show me devices that arealready in my network.
Hi car825,
The Network Security Map only shows networks that you have joined so I do not think NIS is imagining things. Looking at the documentation on your router I see that there are two things that look like possible explanations:
Hello
I'm just wondering if the information in this article might have anything to do with this problem. I don't know anything about this really, but maybe this has something to do with it. If not, then sorry about the interruption.
SendOfJive wrote:Hi car825,
The Network Security Map only shows networks that you have joined so I do not think NIS is imagining things. Looking at the documentation on your router I see that there are two things that look like possible explanations:
- The router is able to create two separate, yet simultaneous networks, one at 5 GHz and the other at 2.4GHz. Check your router configuration to see if this second network is what Norton is listing as a second router.
- The router acts as a media server when a usb drive is connected to it. If you have a usb drive connected, try plugging and unplugging it to see if it is the mystery device.
I am using both bands (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) but not the media server. I don't think that's it. In the Windows 7 network explorer I can see some details on the unknown router. It is a Linksys Wireless-G Router model WRT54G2 with a different MAC than mine. Windows 7 puts it in the Network Infrastructure category, not in my Network Location. So it's clearly not my Linksys E3000 dual-band router. I'm guessing that someone in my area has a router configured for Wifi Protected Setup. I read somewhere that Wifi Protected Setup sometimes appears as a network infrastructure device. For some reason NIS is putting it on the Network Security Map. Is my understanding of the map correct? is it only supposed to show devices that are actually in (or were in) my network?
The map is not supposed to show me routers that I could connect to. If I understand it correctly it is only supposed to show me devices that are already in my network.
I don't think that is entirely accurate. Norton has to receive data from the router to know what is connected where, or from the Windows information. Norton doesn't make the connections, it allows or forbids the connections that are being made by the machine and the router. If the machine is trying to answer another SSID broadcast that is very close to your own, or if two similar routers are configured too similarly on the same channel, Norton may just be acting in an advisory capacity that tells you to check things out.
In my network, there is no home group to tell Norton who is allowed to do what. Both wireless machines are able to connect directly to the router, bypassing Norton entirely, and yet Norton has recognized both of them in the network security map because of the router settings.
I think it was a McAfee product that was showing a HVAC controller that was operating the heat/cooling equipment in the basement, as a device in the network map for their product.
It is interesting that the device is listed as "offline" which would tend to indicate that something was unplugged, or turned off and unless that status has changed, it would suggest to me that it was a former inclusion in the settings somewhere.
car825 wrote:Is my understanding of the map correct? is it only supposed to show devices that are actually in (or were in) my network?
Yes, that is correct. I am also thinking it is a neighbor's device - why it would show up as part of your network, rather than as a separate network, I don't know.. Since you have the mystery device's MAC address why don't you use your router's MAC filtering to block it and then remove it from the Network Security Map? You may never really know what it was, but at least you'll never see it again. And if you find you no longer have connectivity to one of your devices, the riddle will be solved.
delphinium wrote:The map is not supposed to show me routers that I could connect to. If I understand it correctly it is only supposed to show me devices that are already in my network.
I don't think that is entirely accurate. Norton has to receive data from the router to know what is connected where, or from the Windows information. Norton doesn't make the connections, it allows or forbids the connections that are being made by the machine and the router. If the machine is trying to answer another SSID broadcast that is very close to your own, or if two similar routers are configured too similarly on the same channel, Norton may just be acting in an advisory capacity that tells you to check things out.
In my network, there is no home group to tell Norton who is allowed to do what. Both wireless machines are able to connect directly to the router, bypassing Norton entirely, and yet Norton has recognized both of them in the network security map because of the router settings.
I think it was a McAfee product that was showing a HVAC controller that was operating the heat/cooling equipment in the basement, as a device in the network map for their product.
It is interesting that the device is listed as "offline" which would tend to indicate that something was unplugged, or turned off and unless that status has changed, it would suggest to me that it was a former inclusion in the settings somewhere.
If I click on the wireless icon in my task bar I can see 15 or 20 SSIDs for routers in my area. This is how routers normally advertise themselves. It seems arbitrary that NIS chose to display only one of them in the Network Security Map. I'm positive this router never connected to my network. I restored my system with an image copy to prove it to myself. And Windows 7 itself says the device is Network Infrastructure and does not list it in my Network Location.
Let me ask about the security aspects of this. What is NIS trying to tell me by putting the router on the map? My assumption is that there is no security risk since the router is listed by Windows 7 as Network Infrastructure and not in my network location. Is that correct?
The network map only detects devices that "appear" or have appeared on the connected network adapter. It doesn't matter if it's a router, a "network infrastructure device", or anything like that. As long as the device or virtual device responded to the "ARP ping", it will show the device. It's not possible for someone else's router to appear on the network map if that device isn't in the same local network.
I have seen some cases where a router can have two separate "devices", one for the wireless and one for the wired. These would each have their own MAC address. Perhaps that is your case here as well.
/Chester
ChesterK wrote:The network map only detects devices that "appear" or have appeared on the connected network adapter. It doesn't matter if it's a router, a "network infrastructure device", or anything like that. As long as the device or virtual device responded to the "ARP ping", it will show the device. It's not possible for someone else's router to appear on the network map if that device isn't in the same local network.
I have seen some cases where a router can have two separate "devices", one for the wireless and one for the wired. These would each have their own MAC address. Perhaps that is your case here as well.
/Chester
According to Windows 7 the mystery router is not connected to my network. I can see it in the Windows 7 Network Explorer as a Network Infrastructure Device. The Network Location column is blank unlike my other devices that show my network name. When I double click on the unknown router it asks for a pin number (not a key). That's one of the reasons I think it could be someone else's router with wifi protected setup. I don't think it's my router because it has a different model number. How could it be connected to my network based on these facts?
Open up windows "network and sharing center", click "manage wireless networks".
Click one time on the device and then select delete.
Verify that it does not return.
It's not connected to your network but you may have been connected to it at one time. Like a neighbors router that wasn't protected at one time.
Try purging your network security map by going to settings-->network settings-->network security map-->purge. That will rebuild the list and see if it shows up. One easiest way to get rid of your worries of a snooping neighbor is to change your router password.
Edit: Change wrong terminology used
ChesterK wrote:The network map only detects devices that "appear" or have appeared on the connected network adapter. It doesn't matter if it's a router, a "network infrastructure device", or anything like that. As long as the device or virtual device responded to the "ARP ping", it will show the device. It's not possible for someone else's router to appear on the network map if that device isn't in the same local network.
I have seen some cases where a router can have two separate "devices", one for the wireless and one for the wired. These would each have their own MAC address. Perhaps that is your case here as well.
/Chester
I figured out why an unknown router suddenly appeared on the NIS11 Network Security Map even though it's not in my network. As a test I took an old D-Link router and reset it to its factory condition. This particular D-Link router has Wifi Protected Setup. As soon as I turned it on it appeared on the Windows 7 Network Explorer as an Infrastructure Device. It looked the same as the mystery router. I clicked on it to get its properties and it then appeared on the NIS11 Network Security Map as a new device, just like the mystery router. So that must be what happened.
I've got this too. I got NIS 2011 on my notebook and if I click NSM in NIS2011 i see a extra router that isn't mine. I only see this other router if I am connected wireless and not wired directly to the router. My other notebook with NIS2010 sees the same router too. it says Cisco-Linksys, LLC router/switch.connection offline. I've restricted it from the computer and have checked my Dlink wireless router listings and see no computer connected with that mac address in question. it's driving me crazy.
Have you ever been connected to a different network, at work, hotel, airport, etc?