Stay Away, Don't You Invade My Home

[rjbinney]

Stupid question here.

I was looking in Netgear's Network Genie to get the IP address of my printer (I was too lazy to walk to the other room and press "Info" on the printer) and found a buncha devices connected to my WPA2-protected network.

All the Genie lists is IP and MAC address; I can tie some of the MACs back to my iPad, my phone, and my teevee (well, and my printer, natch).

But there are a few I can't account for.

Now, my wife could have an iPad sitting in a drawer somewhere, or something.

But is there a way to:
A) Find out more about these mystery devices? (Operating systems, device names, etc.?)
2) Kick 'em off the network (without changing network passwords)?

I'm using the Netgear Genie because, oddly enough, you can't just log on to my router and see who's connected. Hmph.

Thanks,

[Geek-9pm]

Are they wireless devices or Ethernet devices?
Do you know how to get into your router?
On some you would enter this:
192.168.0.1
and you will connect to your router. In the router you will find a list of connected devices.The Network Genie is just one of many apps taht di it for you.
Here is an article about such programs:
https://www.komando.com/apps/368384/best-apps-to-control-your-router/all

Instead of using a web browser to access your router's settings, managing your home network is simplified with apps developed for controlling your specific router model.
Here's our list of the best router management apps for the more popular brands:

Her goes on  to list a number of software apps taht will let you see who is on your local network.
Netgear Genie
Linksys Smart Wi-Fi
ASUS Router
TP Link Tether
DS router by Synology

There are some tools also for Android and Apple.

Now about you question. You can find out by trial and error which of the devices are in your home. You can lock out a device by the t MAC and see of something in your house stops working. It might be:
A Wi-Fi repeater
You inkjet printer
Your TV Roku
A Chrome Cast device
A Bluetooth device.
A burglar alarm.
A VoIP Telephone
A cellphone Hot Spot
The Google Home Smart Speaker
Wireless HD Wi-Fi  Camera
... and more stuff like that.

[rjbinney]

Thanks.

In the OP, I said my router does NOT display connected-device-info, hence my need for Genie.

I don't want to go through every drawer and look for a device that might be connected; besides, that's disproving a negative.

I know the MAC addresses of everything I've approved - or so I thought. But, like I said, there may be a random iWatch or some silly thing I can't think of. (nb: I used to have my router set to only allow approved MAC addresses, but someone on this forum talked me out of that years ago... I can't find that post, though...)

So how do I lock out the other two devices, whose MAC address I have but can't identify?

I tried installing Who Is On My WiFi, but it wouldn't run (SQL errors); I have LANSpy from my XP days, but that isn't proving helpful.

[DaveLembke]

I'd change the password and its a sure thing to get unwanted devices offline. Changing password for wireless network is easy and the best thing to do, as for if your router is configured to allow wireless admin access any mac filtering to limit what devices can connect can be easily undone.

The password change is the best way to go with this. Easiest and less headache. You may have already put in more effort trying to avoid password change than the password change would take too. 

[rjbinney]

Well, you seem to be discounting the effort of getting the wife to update her access password on her devices...!

Thanks

[Geek-9pm]

rjbinney,
Try this.
Reset the password, but keep the old password at hand.
Power off the router and power back on.
Run the Wi-Fi analyzer to see if any devices and still connected.
If any device is connected, then something else is wrong. The software has to be wrong.

If need be ,try another Wi-Fi analyzer tool.

After the test, put the old password back.

Does you router have a push button option to log on a device/

[BC_Programmer]

You can use the IP addresses it provides and run them against NMap/Zenmap Which can usually provide some guesses about what it is. If it's an iPad, smartwatch, etc it should give some clues about what specifically it is.

Also remember that the network map is going to include wired devices, not just wireless ones, which could include components that are part of your local infrastructure. Which means it could be a self-assigned IP for the router itself, or it could be the IP for the devices they provide for TV or Phone service.

[camerongray]

If you have the MAC address you can look it up to find the vendor here: https://macvendors.com/ - It may not give a completely straight answer (Motorola phones will probably show up as Lenovo since they make them.etc) but it could give a clue.  Also bear in mind that wired devices will also show up along with network hardware such as wireless access points, range extenders, powerline adapters.etc, not just end devices such as computers and TVs.

[Mark.]

to kick off old devices, just reboot the modem/router.
then the only re-connects will be from 'active' devices in the house.

your list of connected devices may currently include old devices that were connected in the past, maybe change your DHCP lease time to hours rather than the usual default value of weeks.
I set mine to 12 hours.

[rjbinney]

Those are all great tips. Thanks!

I don't have any wired devices, unless the router, as you suggested, for some reason insists on two IPs.

Thanks for the MAC lookup site, that will be helpful.

Changing the DHCP lease means, what, exactly? If someone has broken my network won't they automatically renew? I'll give it a try, I just wouldn't mind understanding the logic.

Thanks everyone.

[Mark.]

if you think someone has 'broken' your network, then changing your wifi password is really recommended.
if you think they then may break that one too, only allowing known MAC addresses is the next level of protection.
painful though, as you have to gather up all current (and find any future) MAC addresses for all your devices you want to allow access to your network.

as to DHCP leasing...
when a network device connects to your modem/router, it is given an IP address automatically (if DHCP is turned on, and it always is by default).
this IP address is 'leased' for the pre-set duration, after which, the network device has to re-negotiate with the modem/router to be allowed back in.
so setting a short lease time keeps the list of connected devices to only the most recent and forces those devices to be security re-checked at each re-connection.

[rjbinney]

Yeah, I don't think anyone has hacked me.... But it's killing me figuring out what this one random device is. It's going to be something stupid, like a BT adapter for my stereo or the ignition switch on my grill or something.

Like I said, I used to have a pretty tight grasp on the MACs of what attached, so that's not a huge issue.

[Mark.]

ever seen Red Dwarf?....

I blame rogue MAC addresses on my Talkie Toaster.

[BC_Programmer]

Ahhh, so you're a waffle man.

[Mark.]