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Shenzhen Device Connected to My WiFi - What Does It Mean?
7 min. read
Updated onOctober 14, 2024
updated onOctober 14, 2024
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Why is a Shenzhen device connected to your WiFi? If you discover a new addition to your network, don’t panic – it could be one of your smart devices.
Still, unrecognized WiFi devices are the most common source of privacy intrusion that may trigger a ransomware attack or personal information breach. Not to mention, they can siphon off your WiFi bandwidth for unauthorized cryptocurrency mining, pirated content downloading, and other activities.
I’ve explained below what to do if you detect an unknown WiFi device in your router, so let’s jump right in!
Why Is a Shenzhen Device Connected to My WiFi?
Many tech devices, like smartphones, routers, optical network terminals (ONTs),IoT devices, home appliances, and more, aremade in the Shenzhen city of the Guangdong province of China.
Additionally, most manufacturers in Shenzhen use their own business names to identify them.
So, when you connect one such smart device to your WiFi network, you may see any of the following notifications in the router app:
This is highly common with IoT devices, like smart lights, air purifiers, humidifiers, kitchen appliances, electric sockets, ceiling fans, etc.
So, let’s say you’ve plugged in a new smart light in your living room. You’ve installed the required mobile app, which automatically connects it with the home WiFi.
Later, when you log into the router app, you’ll see an “unknown” WiFi device with a generic name beginning or ending in the word Shenzhen.
What To Do When a Shenzhen Device Is Connected to Your WiFi
Find below various proven ways to verify if a Shenzhen-branded smart device is yours:
Perform These Basic Checks
Before trying anything advanced, do these quick checks first:
Block the Rogue Device’s MAC Address
Now, even if the device still stays in the network, it won’t be able to access any bandwidth as you’ve blocked its MAC address.
Disable DHCP on the Router
By default, a WiFi router will assign an IP address to a new device due to the DHCP server configuration. So, you can disable this to ensure no new rogue WiFi devices can connect.
Factory Reset the WiFi Router
Ensure you know the appropriate ISP-side configurations before trying the following steps. If you don’t talk to the ISP’s support team first, collect configuration data, and then proceed with resetting the router.
Update the Router Firmware
Sometimes, a router might show phantom devices due to corrupted or outdated firmware versions.
Before performing any firmware upgrade,connect the PC and WiFi router to an uninterrupted power supply.If there are any interruptions between firmware flashing, the router might get bricked and function no more. Here’s how you can do that:
If you don’t see the Online Upgrade option, you can perform aLocal Upgrade. Download the latest firmware file from the manufacturer’s website. Now, use theBrowsebutton to select the firmware and clickUpgradeto start the process.
Use a WiFi Security Tool to Prevent Reaver Attacks
Hackers and bots might use the Reaver attack toexploit weaknesses in the WPA/WPA2 encryptionsystem. By an extremely fast trial and error method, attackers discover the WiFi encryption key or password to gain access to your network.
To defeat such hacking attempts, you canuseantiviruses with WiFi protectionfeatureslikePanda Antivirus.
Disable Private WiFi Addresses of Apple Devices
If you use the Private Wi-Fi Address feature on your Apple devices, you’ll see many unknown MAC addresses on the router console.
Here’s how you can disable this feature on an iPhone. Please note that an active Private Wi-Fi Address functionality is the default setting for all Apple-shipped iOS devices.
Contact the Technical Support Team
If none of the above helps, it’s time to contact the technical support team of the router or ISP. Since most ISPs ship a router with the internet subscription plan, sometimes you only need to contact them. Here are the customer support resources for popular ISPs in the US:
Summary
So far, you’ve learned what to do if you see a Shenzhen device connected to your WiFi.
For more security measures, you can also read aboutprotecting your Windows 10 device on public WiFi,fixing WiFi not asking for passwords, andfixing Network security key mismatchissues.
Moreover, here’s how to deal withunknown Espressif devices.
More about the topics:Network,Wi-Fi,Wi-Fi issues
Selma Citakovic
Content Editor
Selma is a tech fan and editor at Windows Report. She is also an experienced writer with a focus on cybersecurity, troubleshooting hardware and operating systems, gaming, and all things Windows.
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Selma Citakovic
Content Editor
Selma is a tech fan and editor at Windows Report. She is also an experienced writer with a focus on cybersecurity and all things Windows related.
