[nhlisa]

Hi. I have a question/problem that someone can help with. I posted this in a Microsoft newsgroup 5 days ago and so far no responses.

I upgraded from Vista Home Premium 64 bit to Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. I had a home network already in place.

Details are:
My laptop (Dell XPSm1530 - wireless)
Husband's laptop (same - except his is 32 bit)
Wireless printer (HP officejet pro 8000)
Dlink NAS
Dlink Router (don't know model off the top of my head).

When running Vista on both computers, everything worked normally and when I viewed the network I only saw the above equipment when it was on.

Upgraded to Windows 7 on my computer first (newer). The network stayed and a new Homegroup was setup.

I then started noticing when I viewed the network (not homegroup) there were other things showing up. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Right now it shows 2 Linksys WRT110's, WINDR3300 and Douglas-PC. I'm assuming these are from my neighbors but why are they showing? Also I should mention that I'm viewing the network in Explorer. The "extras" show up on the right hand side when I click on "Network" but they do not show up on the list on the left side. If that makes sense. Right now on the left hand side of the screen under network is my laptop and the NAS. But if I click on network, I get the "extras" (which include my printer & router) on the right side.

Then a week later, I upgraded my husbands laptop and his now does the same thing.

I have the router protected (WPA -personal / AES and a good password combination of letters & numbers). I'm slightly concerned but mostly I just
want to stop seeing them in my network list. Any suggestions?

I thought with this new Homegroup, I could just delete the workgroup but I can't because of my NAS. Also not sure if the internet connection would continue to work without the workgroup.

Lisa

[Daniela]

I believe I understand the situation as such and I am guessing that you are seeing the other routers, as in Network Connection Options, because you are using your laptop's wireless options to connect to the Internet.
In order for your wireless connection to find, and then connect, to your own Network, it is suppose to 'look around' and show all available networks in the area. That is actually one of the advantages of a laptop when you are on the road and/or in a hotel/airport etc.

Personally ,I would not let it bother me, as long as you don't have these other networks set to automatically connect to. At the same time - also ensure that you have your router settings secured, so nobody can access your network without permission. If you are not sure how to 'tweak' your router settings, I suggest for you to call d-link's customer service to assist you.
Being that you seem to be surrounded by other Networks, I would think that the D-Link's security settings need to be rather tight.

In addition, check your settings from within the Network and Sharing Center by going to 'change advanced sharing settings' on the left, where you can easily 'jump' to 'change adapter settings' to verify properties of your Network Connection. Can you tell me if those'other' networks show up in there, as well? If so, have you tried to 'fine-tune' them?

That's all that comes to my mind right now; it is a bit difficult to sort of diagnose the complete layout without actually seeing it.

[nhlisa]

Thanks for the response.

Yes that's what I figured, but they never showed up before when using Vista, at least not there. (I would see other available networks if I clicked on my network icon in the taskbar.) And it threw me for a loop to see them there.

The only network I have set to auto-connect to is our own. Would never set any other to auto-connect. Used to have a few neighbors who had unsecured routers but now they are all secured so I hope we never loose internet for any length of time.

The Dlink router is quite secure with a very good password. It would be a "tough nut to crack".

No, none of the "strays" show up in the network & sharing center. So I guess it's just an annoyance seeing them in Explorer under the network that I'll have to get used to.

[Daniela]

Sounds good to me. Just to clarify as to the router...I was not concerned about the password getting INTO the router, but the security and wireless settings available when you access the router online. Have you ever gone into it and read up on all the setting options available? Since I don't have a laptop PC at hand right now - only a Mac and they are set up a bit differently - I can't give you exact instructions how to best fine-tune the mentioned settings, which is why I suggested to contact D-Link customer service.

Otherwise, again, as long as nobody is 'popping up' inside your Network, I would not worry too much about just seeing the 'others' in the Explorer window.

[nhlisa]

Hi. Yes the basic settings have been setup as far as the more advanced stuff I tend to leave alone what I don't understand. No one has ever gotten into any of our routers/network. I checked the logs and it's just our stuff in the list.

Now that I understand what's going on and that no one is inside the network, I'll just have to get used to seeing those other routers pop in & out. Thanks.
Lisa