Mystery machine on my network

TidBITS Talk
1

When I view my network, I see two other computers (ones I expect to see) and a mystery machine. It’s labeled BRW followed by a string of letters and numbers. This is home wifi (no wires) and there are no other possible computers that would be on it.

When I check info it says it’s PC, but nothing else.

I have seen references to this machine over the years, but never paid much attention to it.

I’m thinking it might be referencing a PC I once had many, many years ago and I believe was connected to my network. Is is possible some reference to that long gone PC is still stuck in my system? I have migrated many times to many machines and I’m thinking some file has moved from machine to machine?

2

Do you have a Brother printer?

The default network name of a wireless Brother printer starts with BRW and is followed by the last few characters of its network hardware address.

1 Like
3

Of course! Thank you – that must be it.

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4

If you’re not using your printer’s Wi-Fi (in my case, I have it connected to the home LAN via Ethernet), you can disable the Wi-Fi. This will make its private network go away and is potentially more secure (if there’s a problem in its firmware).