I'm stumped by this one. I'm running Windows 7 on my laptop and when I go to look at the computers on my network a wireless router device pop-ups up named "Belkin Wireless Router (WFA)" under the "Network Infrastructure" category. My Vista machines connected to the same network do not display this device, instead they display a Residential Gateway with the properties of my actual wireless Netgear router.
So after a few minutes this phantom device on the Windows 7 machine disappears from the list but when I refresh the window it pops right back up there. It only shows up on my Windows 7 machine. When I right-click on it and goto properties it lists the Model, Serial, MAC, and unique identifer, but the IP address is unavailable. The information it displays in the properties is totally different than my home router.
The right-click menu on this device also gives me a "configure" option that brings up a "Set Up a Network" window. The window says "To set up a network, type the 8-digit PIN from the router label" and on the right side of the window is a picture showing where the pin number should be on the router. When I enter any number that is exactly 4 digits it takes it for some reason, but it won't take anything more or less than 4. After that I click next. The new window asks for a network name that is already pre-filled and there is an expand option on the line "Change passphrase, security level and encryption type (advanced)." When I manually click to expand I get the following:
Security key: 1qvy-zl8n-8yus
Security level: WPA2-Personal (Recommended)
Encryption type: AES (Recommended)
I should stop here and mention the only devices I should have on my network. There are three Vista computers, and a Windows 7 laptop. Two Vista computers solely use cables while one Vista machine connects via wireless. The Windows 7 computer also connects over wireless. There is also a PS3 that is on the network via ethernet cable. All of these computers connect to a wireless Netgear router running WPA-PSK [TKIP] encryption (NOT WPA2[AES]!!!). And my router definitely does not use the Security Key 1qvy-zl8n-8yus. Also, my router has a different MAC address than what shows up in the properties of this device.
What is this thing? There is no other router on my network. The only other device than my computers, PS3, and router is a simple D-Link switch. I changed my SSID and security phase but the device still appears. Any ideas?
