How do I stop Windows picking up housemates devices in "Networks"?

Hi all,

I have an infuriating problem that I can never find a definitive answer to, but it must surely be solvable?

I live in a shared house and I don't like Windows showing other devices in "Networks" - mainly things it picks up such as other people's Smart TVs or Amazon Firesticks - I try removing these either from Settings or Devices and Printers Control Panel, but they just come back. How do I stop them from re-appearing?

It's similar in Android how when I'm on YouTube it insists on giving me a notification to try and connect to one of the guys Chromecast and Smart TV, but I can't get rid of that either!

Thanks for any advice

You cannot. You can setup a Captive Portal and RADIUS with Free RADIUS, to keep everyone's computers private. If there are any gaming systems connected to the network, they will not be able to communicate between each other or media shares.

Alex,

If you are referring to their WiFi being shown as available networks to connect to on your computer then you can block their display so that you can only see your own network[s]. See the tutorial Add or Remove Wireless Network from Filter - TenForums

Just by way of example, I used to see these nearby networks

so I ran this in an elevated command prompt {note that the network name entry is case-sensitive}

Code:

netsh wlan add filter permission=block ssid="First BUS" networktype=infrastructure

and repeated it for each of the others.

I can now run this in an elevated command prompt if I want to check which ones I have blocked

Code:

netsh wlan show filters

If I wanted to remove a network from the blocked list, i.e. I wanted to allow it to appear again, I would run this in an elevated command prompt

Code:

netsh wlan delete filter permission=block ssid="First BUS" networktype=infrastructure

I do not know of any equivalent action in Android because I have never delved into it.

Denis

Networking 101 refresh

A subnet is a range of IP addresses that can communicate with each other without special systems there is a range of addresses set aside for use in small networks
they are written in what is known as Dotted decimal, and comprises of four groups of numbers from 0 to 255

The main group of addresses for small networks all start with 192.168. followed by a further two groups of numbers, the third allows 256 separate networks with the fourth group allowing 256 devices on each of these networks, these are special addresses in that they can be used by anyone and two or ten or Ten thousand people can use the same subnet as, if the addresses reach the internet they are ignored, but where wireless networks are in close proximity, and the subnets are set the same it's possible that as the networks overlap then they may show devices from another network

If you are picking up actual devices then this is usually due to the subnet you are using in your router is the same as others have set in their routers. This is exacerbated by the mainline router manufacturers all tending to use the same subnet Either 192.168.0.0 to 255, or 192.168.1.0 to 255.

With devices like TVs and other smart tech you will often find that every device is sold with the same default address which would mean they show up in any network in range with the same subnet set

As you have no control over the other people's network or devices you will need to change your own

In most routers you can set the subnet you use. if you set this to something like 192.168.101.0 to 255 or even 192.168.2.0 to 255 then other subnets devices should not show. when your device connects to your network the router assigns a device address which should be unique but if you have a number of routers in a small area the devices of other users on the same subnet may show

They will not usually be accessible due to security settings but this can happen if the manufacturer always uses the same default addresses and passwords.

After many years working with professional networks, I have developed an attitude that All variables, (Network Name and passcode, Subnet range, and all passwords should be manually changed from their default, there is also a case to only connect critical systems to the router by fast ethernet as this prevents any leakage )

Although all routers have their own way of setting parameters, it should be listed in the user guide and is usually a simple setting although some routers that are supplied by ISPs are locked out to prevent users changing things

The easiest way is to use only two commands
If you live in a large city you may end up writing 100's of commands and then at the end of every month you may have add more.

One to whitelist your ssid and then blacklist all the rest with one more command

Whitelist your ssid named my wifi

Code:

netsh wlan add filter permission=allow ssid="my wifi" networktype=infrastructure

Blacklist all ssid's at once:

Code:

netsh wlan add filter permission=denyall networktype=infrastructure

Now you should only see your ssid, You can whitelist more if you want

How to undo the above commands

To remove all the blacklisted ssid's

Code:

netsh wlan delete filter permission=denyall networktype=infrastructure

to remove your whitelisted ssid

Code:

netsh wlan add filter permission=allow ssid="my wifi" networktype=infrastructure