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I have been concerned about my systems security since upgrading to window 8 last November on occations a phone has appeared in my network devices list well windows knows the phone it can get make model and mac code but after clicking on the phones propities it disappears. At first I thought it might have got in through my wireless router which is a virgin super hub made by netgear and after a little digging I changed the password and even the way devices connect wirelessly and made my hug a mac code only connection. This worked for a few weeks then hey presto another phone or tablet appeared on my network. I even paid a extra few quid to Mcafee and upgraded to access all areas to cover my tablet and my our phone the issue persisted . I was so annoyed at this time but I had noticed the my processor was a 64 bit capable processor so I took the plunge and brought another windows pro 8 pack as the system had to have a clean install. All has been fine for six weeks since I upgraded to a 64 bit machine and suddenly it has all started again I have had three different devices appearing in my network map and I have not got a clue if my system has been compromised. Or is it this think is a way for others to connect to the internet for free using my isp which is illegal.
Does anyone have any ideas where I turn to, to solve this problem ?
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
I had this issue ,i have searched a lot in the internet and no absolute solution for this, I have tried very simple way through the router by blocking the mac address of these devices and it works fine for me , you have to keep watching your network for few days and when you found any unknown device (most likely it is a phone with just MAC address and no IP address) block the the these MAC address in your router
hope it work with you
I had the same thing pop up on my windows 10 machine. M201 as telephony. I am narrowing it down to the fact that my Router has a build in system for a 4G SiM card, which is my back up internet if my line connection should fail. I think that's where the M201 device sits. I guess I am wondering if you have a Mobile SIM card in your router as a fail over connection as well.
I found out that the phones showing up in the connected devices isn't really the phones connected to your network. That's why you cant see their IP only MAC address. It picks up phones in your area that are passing by and shows there temporarily. it's a flaw in windows. If their not showing up on your router as connected devices your good
Slance310. Why are you replying to this important post with just guesses? Doesn't it do more harm to the post if you are not knowledgeable on the subject. This is a real thing with many many of us concerned about it and I don't believe we should be guessing and minimizing the importance. There are a lot of machines and wireless devices around my wifi router that don't show up in the network. Heck, my phones with wifi on didn't even show up in the network prior to me establishing a connection. Only Android phones are showing up. Never an iPhone or Windows phone. I have been monitoring this for a year and they are different phones with different MAC addresses. There are not that many different people in my wifi range such that I can reasonably believe that they are swapping out with new Android phones that frequently. Real people usually get these expensive phones at best every 2 years. We are concerned because it looks like spies and hackers are causing this and Microsoft is quiet about it. I pay Microsoft money for my product and I read the EULA and never agreed that Microsoft should allow my information to be accessible to spies and hackers. Isn't it reasonable to expect if a real vulnerability exists that it should be fixed, and if it is a un-connected phone that is within router range and the Windows OS is requesting a list of attached devices that are connected from the router and the router is reporting back additional extra devices beyond those that are connected than shouldn't that behavior that is not what is expected also warrant a patch to fix?
I am having the same problem. I got so paranoid that I did a complete recovery on my laptop, changed my virus checker from McAfee to Norton, even changed the phone line (got 2 lines in the house), upgraded to Sky fibre optic and still, my laptop still shows different devices on the network.
I have now changed from WIFI to Ethernet, but the problem remains the same.
I'm not happy with whatever causes the problem. Maybe Microsoft should have a look into that. Maybe it DOES have something to do with windows 8.1.
I feel so frustrated that I would to just chuck my expensive, fairly new, laptop :-(
Oh, and something else happens to my laptop. For no apparent reason t he Network changes ITSELF from private to public... Does anyone know why?? And how can I change it back to private? It's easy in Windows 7, but don't know how to change it Windows 8.1.... Argh!!!
