(SSID) 2?

[ohdatpro]

So, for whatever reason, it seems that at startup my desktop, connected via Ethernet, now shows the name of my network with a 2 beside of it with no internet connection. If I unplug and then re-plug my Ethernet cable, it reverts back to the SSID without the 2. Any idea what could be going on?

Note: recently, we had some new neighbors move in and we generally see if our neighbors want to split the bill with us (apartment building). One of the guys really wanted Ethernet, so I ran him a cable through a backdoor of sorts. He had bought a router and I think I saw it connected the last time I was over there, but I cannot be certain. Not sure if that has anything to with the strange occurrence, but I thought it was worth noting. Also, I am a novice at best in regards to networking. I have experience, but it is limited.

[Falcon1986]

6 hours ago, ohdatpro said:

So, for whatever reason, it seems that at startup my desktop, connected via Ethernet, now shows the name of my network with a 2 beside of it with no internet connection. If I unplug and then re-plug my Ethernet cable, it reverts back to the SSID without the 2. Any idea what could be going on?

Note: recently, we had some new neighbors move in and we generally see if our neighbors want to split the bill with us (apartment building). One of the guys really wanted Ethernet, so I ran him a cable through a backdoor of sorts. He had bought a router and I think I saw it connected the last time I was over there, but I cannot be certain. Not sure if that has anything to with the strange occurrence, but I thought it was worth noting. Also, I am a novice at best in regards to networking. I have experience, but it is limited.

You don’t have to worry about the “2”. Windows just uses it to identify similar networks that it has connected to. I know that if my network drivers update, Windows has a way of appending a number to the end of the network name. It’s the same network, just a few internal settings might have changed and this is only on the client side.

 

Are you able to get online in both scenarios?

 

When sharing your internet like this, I advise you to assign that port on a separate VLAN for the sake of privacy. For example, if your LAN is set up on 192.168.100.x, assign the port to which your neighbor is connecting as VLAN200 such that his LAN will now be on 192.168.200.x. This prevents his network from being able to access devices on your own. A simple network router/switch won’t do this by default as it assumes that everything connecting is under the same owner.