IOS changes MAC address
I am having some trouble confirming the identity of a number of devices on the network. It appears that IOS is dynamically changing the MAC address which in turn is leading the DHCP server on the router to allocate new IP addresses. The result is that I get devices such as Apple Watch apparently viewing a video. Any advice on how to sort this out?
-
Thanks for coming back. Yes, I do have a network extender on the network, but I thought the issue was to do with Apple dynamically changing the MAC addresses on IOS to prevent instore tracking. In anycase, my problem is that the MAC addresses are changing. I need a work around for this. If I went to a mesh wifi network would I have the same problem.
Also my Amazon Alexa device is reporting contact with a video site which obviously it cant do because it has no video, but I presume this is just an identification error? Does tt just means that my Alexa devices are communicating with Amazon cloud and this is identified as a video source?
-
@Basil, it is very likely the problem is the network extender. Is it a TP-Link? What happens, when it tries to relay between two networks, it will make your device a new MAC address. iOS a while back had randomization, I don't think it is active now.
As MAC is the only viable way for anyone to identify devices, it should not be changed.
If you go with a mesh network such as Google wifi, Netgear Orbi, Linksys Velop, they will transparently bridge your devices without messing with MAC addresses. (plus these can provide far better connections than extenders). I would go with these. All three mesh routers will work with firewalla. https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/articles/360008005173-About-Mesh-Routers
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
3 comments