My Hub5 showed a connection with OTHER , same ip but different MAC

[Crazywalter]

Hi 

Really hope someone can help with this.

I logged onto my HUB 5 router this morning. It showed 4 devices , 3 of which i know because of MAC address

one is my laptop , i know it's MAC address and IP, and showed connected to Wifi

however the was a second Connection, this had the same IP as my Laptop , but a different MAC address , it showed connect to OTHER..... i do not know what this can be.... what is Other mean

[Client62]

Current computer / laptops and mobile support MAC Address Randomisation.   When enabled, this allows the device to change its MAC address at will.  It means a laptop or mobile may well appear with any number of different MAC Addresses each returning the same host name.  MAC Address Randomisation can be enabled / disabled in the network or wireless settings of the device.

[Crazywalter]

Thanks , but to clarify something... should 2 show connected at the one time?  and is this what Connected to Other Means?

If I turn of Randomisation.. i should only see 1?.... I also did Mac filtering to Block the one I didn't recognise, should i unblock it?

[Client62 · Accepted solution]

Do not block any MAC it is a very fast track to finding your kit not working.

The Hub DHCP server allocates an IP to a MAC Address and the lease time is 24 hours.
If the device changes is MAC, the DHCP server see that as a new device and allocated a new IP ( now a device appears twice ). The discarded MAC / IP combination will be removed when the 24 hours lease expires.

[Crazywalter]

Thank you very much for this information and guidance ... I have deleted that Block now

should I turn on the Daily Randomisation,  although is it better to leave it off?.... I was reading it's only valuable as a setting if I am out on a public wifi.. outside of my house.

I do have my current wifi settings set to public...as again was told this was the safest setting

any guidance on this would be greatly appreciated.. just want to remain safe when on line

[ALF28]

Check your laptop system settings and other equipment and verify the mac numbers are correct.The hub settings page shows what is connected at any time. Bear in mind if you use an ethernet cable the mac address is different to the wi-fi mac address, so the laptop could have 2 connections and 2 different mac addresses for the same laptop at the same time, mine often does as I use both cable and wi-fi

Rather than block a mac address, it would be better to set up wi-fi mac filtering so only your devices can connect and no unknown devices or if someone has hacked the wi-fi password.

I normally have connected to my own router laptops, printers, tablet v6 tv box, now box etc and I have a written list of all the mac addresses which I can then check if all connected devices are known, I am not using mac filtering as it can cause issues and complicates things.

I have had in the past a laptop mac address changing. so ensure the random mac address is switched off.

I have my own router which is better than my old hub 3 and use the hub in modem mode.

Also if any equipment is changed or replaced, the mac number will also change, and if you use a guest channel then that might explain unknown mac address, I also switch off the virgin media hotspot which allows outsiders to connect to your hub on a separate channel.

I good way to check what is connected is to use an app called routerchecker, which can be downloaded free on a wi-fi connected phone or tablet and will tell you how many devices are connected and what ports are open on each device and gives the mac addresses for each connected device and IP addresses also.

[Crazywalter]

Thanks ALF

I think that maybe Cleint62 is correct his explaination kinda does fit. I did have Randomisation turned on and to change Daily.. so when I logged on this morning it updated to the new one.... what i really didn't understand is why it showed Connected to Other..... as idk what other means. my mind jumped that someone was connecting to my network by some other means

for the sake of clarity ..i am going to turn off the Random harware thing.. at least I will know what is connected and what is not.....

May I ask.. do you know how to set up Mac filtering to allow only devices I know..I have a Hub 5 , but reading Mac filtering seems to suggest block only?

[ALF28]

The mac filtering is listed under wi-fi settings, which is different to the mac blocking which is I think in security settings, I once tried mac blocking and it upset things so may be best disabled, wi-fi mac filtering by contrast,allows a list of devices that are allowed to connect to the hub, and is extra security if needed, but mac addresses can be easily spoofed by a determined hacker. I have used mac filtering in the past but you lose the settings if a full hub reset is done, it is a bit hard to set up and you need to list every device you use typing in the mac addresses and enabling mac filtering.

I was using mac filtering but recently had to do a reset so lost my settings, but only takes 10 minutes to set up if you known all the mac addresses. so may be worth while but  any changes will require several restarts so the connection will be lost for a while so initially just do one laptop, there is a danger you may lock your self out of wi-fi for a few minutes and have to reset the hub. 

Try switching off all your devices in the house that connect  to the hub and unplug devices and see if the hub still shows a connection to an unknown mac address, this will eliminate if you have a rogue device connected and reboot the hub with a power off then on after 10 seconds to ensure it is not remembering an old mac address.

I do not think mac filtering is an advantage for home use, and can be difficult to manage, it does add an extra layer of security and is mentioned by vm-

How to enhance your Wifi Security | Virgin Media Help

[Client62]

it is quite possible to become very paranoid about what is connected to your home network.

The reality is a device is either cable connected or it is a Wi-Fi device that has been given the Wi-Fi password.

We have MAC Address Randomisation disabled on our mobiles.

We have MAC Address Filtering disabled on our VM Hub and our Wireless Access Points.