Member Avatar for dvr

I am sending and receiving packets all the time.
I checked the running processes and it shows only the system idle at 99%
but if I check my network icon it is always sending and receiving stuff.
any ideas? I ran adaware,spybot, and virus scan and they show nothing.

  • 3 Contributors
  • 3 Replies
  • 180 Views
  • 12 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by DMR

Dani AI

Generated

A constantly active network icon can come from normal background chatter or from another device on the same LAN — not always malware. Since later traced it to a second PC on the network, here are practical, repeatable steps and quick checks that would locate the source and prevent it from happening again.

Start by identifying the traffic

  • On Windows: open Resource Monitor (type resmon) → Network tab to see which processes use the network. From an elevated command prompt run:
    netstat -ano
tasklist /FI "PID eq 1234"
arp -a

    netstat -ano lists active connections and PIDs; then use tasklist (replace 1234) to map PID→process. arp -a shows IP→MAC mappings you can compare with the router's client list.

  • On Linux/macOS:
    ss -tunap
lsof -i -P -n

    These show sockets and owning processes. For deeper inspection, capture a short pcap with Wireshark and filter by your host IP.

Isolation and confirmation

  • Temporarily disconnect or power off other local devices, or disable Wi‑Fi, to see if the activity stops.
  • Check the router’s DHCP/client table and logs to match IP/MAC with a device name. The OUI (first 3 MAC bytes) often reveals the vendor.

Hardening and prevention

  • Use WPA2/WPA3 with a strong passphrase, disable unnecessary file/printer sharing and network discovery, enable router guest isolation for untrusted devices, and keep router firmware updated. MAC filtering is a weak control—use it only as an extra step. Disable UPnP if not needed.

When to worry

  • If you find many unexplained outbound connections to unfamiliar IPs or a process you don’t recognize, run a full AV/antimalware scan, isolate the PC from the network, and collect logs/pcap for analysis. The steps above make it straightforward to tell benign background traffic from something that needs escalation.

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

Member Avatar for TheComputerGeek

How much traffic are we talking about?

Member Avatar for dvr

never mind I had another PC on the network sending requests to my computer. my bad :o

Member Avatar for DMR

never mind I had another PC on the network sending requests to my computer. my bad :o

D-oh! :mrgreen:

(marking as solved)

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.