What is this network device?

I woke my desktop PC from sleep this morning, clicked on Network and immediately spotted a Phone in the device list that doesn't belong to anyone here (a Blu brand phone which is unusual enough that I would know about it).

I clicked on the device and was able to view the MAC address, but nothing else useful. A couple minutes later it disappeared from the network list.

Then a few minutes later I went and looked at another PC on the same home network and saw the same phone in its Network list. It also disappeared a couple minutes after I clicked open 'Network'.

Scanned both PCs with various anti-malware programs including Malwarebytes - they look clean.

Any suggestions on what I was seeing, and if it's malicious how to deal with it?


UPDATE: It popped back up again. I checked my router's connection list and don't see it there. For now I blocked the MAC address in my router but would still like to know where this is coming from.

Could it be a neighbors phone with Wi-Fi turned on?

That was a thought but my WiFi has a pretty strong WPA2 password so I don't think he should be able to jump onto my WiFi and show up in my Windows network list.

I was wondering if it's some kind of hack.

I think that just stops them from access. I don't think that stops them from showing up on your network. If I'm wrong someone will come along that knows for sure.

This is a weird problem I've been seeing in windows for years now (not just windows 10). I've been unable to figure out what it is, but we're not alone in this, I did some research a while back and a lot of other people were seeing it as well.

Some suggest it's a bug in the network stack. Some suggest it's neighbors who are connecting somehow, but not able to use the network. Regardless, it's not an uncommon problem and doesn't seem to be anything worry about. Here's some examples:

Solved Strange phones in network - Windows 10 blog
Strange phones listed on Network heading

Thanks Mystere, that is strange but helpful.

I haven't seen that phone make another appearance since I blocked its MAC address in my router. Based on those previous threads I'll keep an eye on it but not worry too much for now.

One other issue some folks have is with computers [usually Notebooks] that have a Bluetooth adapter and are seeing cellphones when they get within range, usually not a problem if they don't get paired.

One other issue some folks have is with computers [usually Notebooks] that have a Bluetooth adapter and are seeing cellphones when they get within range, usually not a problem if they don't get paired.

Doesn't the pairing have to be OK'd on both devices?

Doesn't the pairing have to be OK'd on both devices?

I've had a cellphone show up in Devices and Printers without having been paired, apparently just telling me it was available.

Those are probably just devices on discoverable mode. The owner of the device should be worried. Not you.