Odd shared device appearing

Question

Odd shared device appearing

In the Finder sidebar there's my router – fine – followed by a random device with an 8 figure alphanumeric – 2 letters 'wl' then a 6 figure number. I'm guessing this must be my wife's windows laptop but am a little concerned, however unlikely, that it could be someone accessing my computer. My Firewall is on and File Sharing in Systems Preferences is switched off so I'm pretty sure I'm safe but how would I find out what the device is? Could it be found on my wife's laptop?

All help appreciated.

Michael

MacBook Pro

Posted on Oct 11, 2019 5:17 AM

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Answer 1

chuck_3rd

Community Specialist

Oct 15, 2019 5:01 PM in response to Michael McMann1

Hi Michael,

It sounds like you had a question about devices on your home network, and I want to help.

It's normal for you to see other devices on your home network, and that's what this appears to be here.

If you don't have File Sharing turned on for your Mac, other devices on the network aren't going to be able to access files on your Mac.

Learn more about setting up File Sharing here:

Set up file sharing on Mac - Apple Support

The device might be a network enabled peripheral like network storage or a printer, or it might be another computer as you suggested. To determine what the device is, you might be able to look in your router's logs of connected devices. If you're not sure how to do that, contact your internet service provider for help.

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities.

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Answer 2

Oct 15, 2019 11:16 PM in response to chuck_3rd

Really appreciate you're thoughts, Alex, and thanks.

Michael

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Odd shared device appearing

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