Unknown Devices On My Networkl
Janet Denzel
Are you concerned about the security of your home network but not sure where to start? You're not alone. In this article, we'll guide you through the process of identifying and securing unknown devices connected to your network. And don't worry, we'll keep it jargon-free and easy to follow, even if you're not a tech expert.
After running a Trend Micro Home Network Security scan, you might be surprised to see devices connected to your network that you cannot identify. Let's take a proactive approach to ensure your home network is as secure as it can be.
Still unsure about which devices are connected to your network? Wondering whether you should keep them connected or disconnect them? Join our community discussion and get answers from experts and fellow users who have faced similar questions.
For example, lets say I'm at work and want to be sure that there are no unknown devices connected to the network (especially if access is not filtered by password or MAC). DHCP logs could help, but what if I want to find devices with static IPs?
Alternatively, let us say I'm at a friends house and he wants me to setup port forwarding, but doesn't know the IP of his router. Sure, a few good guesses will usually get it, but it'd be nicer to scan.
NB: The OS of the device have to echo back to ICMP echo request. Some OS don't reply to ICMP with broadcast IP adress. In which case you can ping to every possible ip address in the network. Recently windows boxes don't reply to ICMP echo with unicast IP address by default, so this won't help.
Spiceworks will provide you with detailed information about your network. Might be overkill if you're just wanting to find IP addresses and Macs, but if you need to monitor your network on an ongoing basis, it's a great tool. Otherwise use nmap.
nmap, but failing that you can ping the network broadcast address and check what comes back. Coupled with checking the ARP table, this can be a fairly effective method of discovering what's on a given subnet.
For the specific example of "does not know the router IP", checking the host routing tables should reveal the default gateway and that is (often, but not always) a suitable management IP for the router.
If your network and all it's devices conform to the RFC's than you should get a reply back form all network devices when you ping the broadcast address of your network.Understandably this doesn't work very often and you have to revert to scanning each of the available IP on the full spectrum of the ports.
Some devices will randomize it's MAC address as a way of maintaining privacy so networks can't track it. There is usually a setting to control this feature and it's normally only useful for connecting to public WiFi. It's possible one of your known devices is doing this.
The name and device type detected by the router isn't 100% accurate and depends on how forthcoming the device is at report it's identity. I have several smart devices that show up as the manufacturing company of the WiFi chip and has nothing to do with the brand or model of the device.
Newer device now have "Randomized" MAC addressing. And Apple is one of them. So you can turn that off, I believe. That way you can lockdown your device/iPhone to one IP address. otherwise it'll float around even with one static MAC address.
I get "unknown device" all the time with known devices, MAC isn't always reliable nor the named Meta data of said device. I've never played with Apples WiFi settings that have Randomization, so you will have to find it, if it exists. I have only turned it off on newer Window based laptops and PCs.
After doing what XRAY suggests, you can rest assure that the only devices on your network will be yours. I assume you have a unique/secured PW for your Telus router? If you still see more devices connected than what you know are actually connect, you can rest assure that that is "historical" info retained by your router. Routers have "lease periods" for devices that are/were connect. being that your Apple devices have randomization MAC, just adds to the confusion.
It most likely is safe. The thing is, in order for someone to be on your "WiFi" they'd have to be within close proximity of your router, other than neighbors, who could that be? And even that would be such a bad connection it would be not worth it. I personally change the router's default management PW, just as a good house keeping practice.
If you want to completely manage your home network, remove all unknown devices, and add another layer of security for all of your internet-connected devices, then Trend Micro Home Network Security is the right solution for you. The complete Home Network Security solution comes with a station and an app, which you can install on iOS or Android.
The Home Network Security app allows you to easily manage the security of your home network and at the same time, alerts you if an unknown device tries to connect to your Wi-Fi. You can also disconnect and block other devices from connecting to your home Wi-Fi with ease.
4. To verify that an unknown device is not one of yours, it is necessary to cross-check its MAC address against the MAC addresses of all your known devices.
The process for obtaining a MAC address is similar for all devices (computers, TVs, games consoles, etc.), but for reference, here is how you find the MAC address of an Android device:
Tap the Settings app > About Phone or About Device > Status or Hardware Information > Scroll down to see your Wi-Fi MAC address.
SmartThings does give me an error of: a network or server error occurred. Try again later. when I select the SmartThings hub. There is also a list of unknown devices listed which do not show up like this through Classic.
The FRITZ!Box shows all of the devices connected with the FRITZ!Box in the Mesh Overview. The table under "Home Network > Network" also displays all of the devices that have been connected to the FRITZ!Box.
Devices that do not send their hostname to the FRITZ!Box, for example Android smartphones and devices with static IP settings, are displayed with their IP address (for example "PC-192-168-178-20") or powerline devices are displayed with their network device name.
Unknown devices and devices that are no longer in use can be deleted in the FRITZ!Box. If your FRITZ!Box still displays unknown devices, you can use the MAC addresses of the devices to determine the manufacturer, identify the devices, and give them unique names the FRITZ!Box.
If the FRITZ!Box displays devices you are not familiar with after you already deleted the unknown devices, try to identify them by their access type and access time. If this is not possible, you can identify them by their MAC addresses or device information in the FRITZ!Box:
To prevent unauthorized persons from using the network key from the bottom of the FRITZ!Box or a network key they may know to connect to the FRITZ!Box, change the network key and set up the Wi-Fi connections to the FRITZ!Box again:
If you are using powerline devices, for example FRITZ!Powerline, change the powerline password so that unauthorized persons cannot use a password they may know to connect to one of the powerline devices over the electrical wiring and access your home network:
I'd like to be able to change the device names for my T-Mobile internet. Is there instructions on how to do that so that all the device names are not unknown? I have no idea whose phone is who's and who's laptop is who's. Please help.
New service is working well but I cannot determine which device is which in a list of 20+ connected devices. Smart light switches need names, not just IP addresses in the device list. Hope renaming devices is high on T-mobile's list of things to make customers happy.
Ditto ... We are a household of seven. Everyone has at least two devices each, plus the networked printer, plus our Alexas, plus ... I really need to label devices so that I know which ones I can safely kick off the network temporarily during critical times (Zoom/Teams for work, a higher data project with an upcoming deadline, etc.) A few times I've had to just kick EVERYTHING off and reconnect based on who complained. This is very inefficient! My 2017 ZTE mobile hotspot allowed me to rename each connected device. I can't believe that more than five years later, and with 5G technology, this useful capability is not available! PLEASE add this feature in your next app upgrade. Thank you.
The question is how do you name devices in the internet app, not how to change device privacy settings. Device (0538) is my living room TV. I like and understand living room TV a hell of a lot better than device (0538). I should have the option of renaming any and all devices on my network.
Any sign of interest at all from T-Mobile in allowing devices to be nicknamed *within* the T-Mobile Internet app? (Note: Not the Apple distraction discussion above, which only helps some people, some of the time.) A list of dozens of connected devices, many of which are only identified by an abbreviated MAC address does no one any good. Come on, T-Mobile, please write the 10 lines of code needed to tie a nickname to a MAC address.
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