how do i identify unknown networks that suddenly appeared

[bookouri]

When I turned on my notebook at work today, I noticed two active access points that I couldnt identify. Their SSID's appear in netstumbler but no other information shows up about the two ap's. Are there any utilities I can use to give me more information about the access points? There are not supposed to be any wireless access points in the area and I need to find out who is running them.

thanks for any suggestions..

 

[MTandSAV]

if you pickup two ap's that are not yours, then they are definately someelse's. They have not turned off the ssid broadcast, thats why netstumbler is picking them up.
Enter their ssid into your machine and you might be to access their network, and find out to whom they belong.
I don't quite understand why there are not supposed to be around..some ap's can reach pretty far.

 

[bookouri]

we've tried to run several different access points in our building and they wont reach across the room..<G> our building is quite a distance from any other buildings so we have never had any interference from outside... one of the aps is now identifying itself as EPSON.. so im wondering if somebody has brought in some kind of printer or something that has built in wireless since i cant "really" access and use the network that claims to be available...

 

[paul172]

Wireless enabled laptops with Ad-Hoc enabled??

 

[bcastner]

Net Stumbler is not making up the access points. Just note the channel numbers and try to avoid overlapping them.

Make sure your APs have unique SSIDs and something secure such as WEP or preferrably WPA.

I have sites in commercial office buildings where Net Stumbler shows 40+ APs nearby.

 

[Antelope]

If you put the SSID in your client manager, do you at least get a signal? If so, walk around with that and find where the signal is the strongest. That will narrow down the area for you. Also check and see if you get an IP Address from their network.