Need urgent help with this

[TheCruncher]

Today I started adding static IP addresses for all my connected devices.

So I went to the router settings and looked at connected devices.

I see a list of mac addresses and assign them a static IP.

At the same time I set the range of DHCP addresses that the router should assign, then reboot all devices.

I then notice that a certain device, which I thought to have assigned a static IP, still get an address in the dynamic IP address.

So there is one mac address that got a static IP assigned, which isn't in my possession.

I refresh the list a few times and the mystery mac address stays connected. Entering the IP address in the address bar leads nowhere.

I then write down the mac address and delete the static IP, but the mac still shows as connected in the list.

After a while the mac address disappears from the list.

I have now manually looked up the mac addresses of any network enabled device on my property, and the said mac address is not among them, and it also doesn't show up anymore in the DHCP list.

I manually rebooted the router and cable modem yesterday by unplugging them, and have since not had any strange device connected to my network, so it can't have been a previously connected device I assume. Is that correct?

My routers are password protected.

How can I find to which device that mac address belongs?

[TheCruncher]

It's getting more complicated. My IP cameras show 2 MAC addresses.

If I go in to the camera settings and click on network settings I get a mac address, while when i click on wireless settings I get a completely different IP address.

[KhunBENQ]

What kind of devices do you have?

On Windows you can open a cmd prompt and use:

ipconfig /all

Look for the correct adapter (WiFi or LAN) and see "Physical Address".

For a known MAC you can do a lookup in the internet with which you will at least find the manufacturer (of the network interface ).

I have a WiFi adapter at the PC.

Its MAC is F4-EC-38-8C-2F-25.

If you lookup e.g. here:

http://www.whatsmyip.org/mac-address-lookup/

I get:

f4:ec:38 Tp-link Technologies Co.,ltd

[TheCruncher]

What kind of devices do you have?

On Windows you can open a cmd prompt and use:

ipconfig /all

Look for the correct adapter (WiFi or LAN) and see "Physical Address".

For a known MAC you can do a lookup in the internet with which you will at least find the manufacturer (of the network interface ).

I have a WiFi adapter at the PC.

Its MAC is F4-EC-38-8C-2F-25.

If you lookup e.g. here:

http://www.whatsmyip.org/mac-address-lookup/

I get:

f4:ec:38 Tp-link Technologies Co.,ltd

Thanks for the response.

The link you posted doesn't connect for me, though I have used other similar services with no result.

In case you can find the mystery mac is EA-C3-AE-B4-BA-2E

I have a wireless router which is my gateway, and 2 additional wifi routers with DHCP disabled as access point.

I have all router given a static IP in the router settings, and the router says "The Wireless Router must have an IP Address in the Local Area Network."

Does this mean it should be in the dynamic ip range I set in my gateway, or outside.

If I set the static ip in the specific router, is there a need to add it to the gateway router?

Ipconfig/all only shows my PC mac address.

Edited October 22, 2015 by TheCruncher

[Cloggie]

Download and install https://www.softperfect.com/products/networkscanner/

[RichCor]

STATIC IP assignments are made on the device, not in the router ...unless you are doing hybrid 'reserved' dhcp that reserve a specific DHCP pool IP address for pairing with a MAC hardware ID.

ZTE refers to this as "dhcp binding"

ZyXEL refers to this as "DHCP Client Table"

TP-Link refers to this as "address reservation"

If any device requests an IP assignment through DHCP then your Router/Gateway will create a 'lease' assigning it an IP address from the DHCP Pool associated to that devices MAC hardware address. This listing can stick around in the router statistics, even after the lease has expired.

If you are reassigning addresses on your LAN then it's standard practice to power-cycle (unplug, count to 10, plug back in) your Router/Gateway (the device serving DHCP) to clear the lease table.

edit: defined "Power Cycle"

Edited October 22, 2015 by RichCor

[manarak]

It's getting more complicated. My IP cameras show 2 MAC addresses.

If I go in to the camera settings and click on network settings I get a mac address, while when i click on wireless settings I get a completely different IP address.

This is normal if your cameras are equipped with a wifi interface and also an ethernet interface.

MAC addresses do not uniquely identify devices.

They do uniquely identify network interfaces, and one device can have several network interfaces.

[TheCruncher]

STATIC IP assignments are made on the device, not in the router ...unless you are doing hybrid 'reserved' dhcp that reserve a specific DHCP pool IP address for pairing with a MAC hardware ID.

ZTE refers to this as "dhcp binding"

ZyXEL refers to this as "DHCP Client Table"

TP-Link refers to this as "address reservation"

If any device requests an IP assignment through DHCP then your Router/Gateway will create a 'lease' assigning it an IP address from the DHCP Pool associated to that devices MAC hardware address. This listing can stick around in the router statistics, even after the lease has expired.

If you are reassigning addresses on your LAN then it's standard practice to power/cycle your Router/Gateway (the device serving DHCP) to clear the lease table.

Thanks for the response.

I previously had issues assigning a static IP on my android device, which would take it in endless bootloop. I posted my problem on another forum and was scolded that static IP's should be set in the router using mac address, and that is what I'm doing now.

So I'm pairing IP addresses with the mac addresses showing in my router.

Assign routers 1-2 and 3,cameras 2+, pc's 11+, networked tv's 12+, android devices 13+, networked sattelite receivers 14+, then set the range of dynamic addresses that my router can assign between 200 and 250.

[TheCruncher]

It's getting more complicated. My IP cameras show 2 MAC addresses.

If I go in to the camera settings and click on network settings I get a mac address, while when i click on wireless settings I get a completely different IP address.

This is normal if your cameras are equipped with a wifi interface and also an ethernet interface.

MAC addresses do not uniquely identify devices.

They do uniquely identify network interfaces, and one device can have several network interfaces.

So if assigning an IP address to a camera in my router, binding it to a specific mac address, can I use either of both addresses or do I need to use the WIFI mac for the wireless connected and the network mac for the ones connected by Ethernet?

[RichCor]

...

I previously had issues assigning a static IP on my android device, which would take it in endless bootloop. I posted my problem on another forum and was scolded that static IP's should be set in the router using mac address, and that is what I'm doing now.

So I'm pairing IP addresses with the mac addresses showing in my router.

Assign routers 1-2 and 3,cameras 2+, pc's 11+, networked tv's 12+, android devices 13+, networked sattelite receivers 14+, then set the range of dynamic addresses that my router can assign between 200 and 250.

How is your android device connected (Ethernet or WiFi).

On devices with multiple ports/interfacs, unless you have a reason for keeping both interfaces active, it's recommended you disable the interface you don't use. One some poorly implemented android devices enabling both interfaces will cause the device to crash, so enable only Ethernet or WiFi, not both. You should b able to set a static IP address but if there is an known issue with that particular device then the alternate approach is to use DHCP reserved feature on your router.

So NOT ALL devices need to be set to use DHCP reserved IP addressing, only those that don't work well ...or devices that are truly portable and are used to connect with other WiFi networks via DHCP.

By the way, some routers will want/need "DHCP reserved" IP addresses to be inclusive in the DHCP Pool, while others will let you set it outside the declared DHCP Pool. The manual isn't always clear, but if you have issues then try making sure the DHCP 'reserved' IPs are inclusive in the declared DHCP Pool.

[TheCruncher]

...

I previously had issues assigning a static IP on my android device, which would take it in endless bootloop. I posted my problem on another forum and was scolded that static IP's should be set in the router using mac address, and that is what I'm doing now.

So I'm pairing IP addresses with the mac addresses showing in my router.

Assign routers 1-2 and 3,cameras 2+, pc's 11+, networked tv's 12+, android devices 13+, networked sattelite receivers 14+, then set the range of dynamic addresses that my router can assign between 200 and 250.

How is your android device connected (Ethernet or WiFi).

On devices with multiple ports/interfacs, unless you have a reason for keeping both interfaces active, it's recommended you disable the interface you don't use. One some poorly implemented android devices enabling both interfaces will cause the device to crash, so enable only Ethernet or WiFi, not both. You should b able to set a static IP address but if there is an known issue with that particular device then the alternate approach is to use DHCP reserved feature on your router.

So NOT ALL devices need to be set to use DHCP reserved IP addressing, only those that don't work well ...or devices that are truly portable and are used to connect with other WiFi networks via DHCP.

By the way, some routers will want/need "DHCP reserved" IP addresses to be inclusive in the DHCP Pool, while others will let you set it outside the declared DHCP Pool. The manual isn't always clear, but if you have issues then try making sure the DHCP 'reserved' IPs are inclusive in the declared DHCP Pool.

The android devices are Minix X8 H Plus, not directly a poorly implemented android device I would say, and another android media streamer.

Both devices are connected through Ethernet only, but I want them to have static IP since I use the Yatse remote, and otherwise have to delete the host each time and search a new one.

On both devices setting a static IP in the player settings ( separate settings from the Android settings) would result in an endless bootloop and the only way to get out of it was to reflash the firmware.That was even with LAN cable disconnected.

So if I understand correct, the DHCP declared pool is the range of dynamic IP addresses that the router can assign. Is that correct?

My IP cameras and routers are set static IP in the device, and I think I will assign my PC's also a static IP that way, while all other devices will have a reserved IP.

Do you suggest that the reserved IP's are within the range of the dynamic IP's the router can assign, and the Static IP's outside that range?

[TheCruncher]

Thanks to Cloggie for the suggestion about the IP scanner, it reminded me that I had such a software installed on my PC.

Now with using that software I discovered that one of the Android streamers get a different mac address each time it is rebooted.

It is the same device I thought I had mistaken for the "mysterious" MAC address, then wrote it down from the device settings, and now it has another MAC address again in the settings.

How is this possible?

[RichCor]

...

On devices with multiple ports/interfacs, unless you have a reason for keeping both interfaces active, it's recommended you disable the interface you don't use.

One some poorly implemented android devices enabling both interfaces will cause the device to crash, so enable only Ethernet or WiFi, not both.

...

The android devices are Minix X8 H Plus, not directly a poorly implemented android device I would say, and another android media streamer.

Both devices are connected through Ethernet only, but I want them to have static IP since I use the Yatse remote, and otherwise have to delete the host each time and search a new one.

The "poorly implemented android" referenced here deals with the firmware being flashed to the unit ...It shouldn't crash/bootloop just because you've set a static IP address. As stated, this can occur if you leave both Ethernet and Wifi interfaces enabled in some firmware, but is also known to occur with just the single interface enabled. You may find a work-around for the Static IP on the specific device forums, but luckily you have the option of ignoring it and just continue to use DHCP and let the router reserve an IP for its MAC address.

I'm not sure if I understand this statement. What does setting 'other' software do? Are you sure it needs an independent IP address from that of the Android OS? Usually streamers (or P2P applications) just need to define/declare the port it's going to use.

Quote: On both devices setting a static IP in the player settings ( separate settings from the Android settings) would result in an endless bootloop and the only way to get out of it was to reflash the firmware. That was even with LAN cable disconnected.

Quote:

So if I understand correct, the DHCP declared pool is the range of dynamic IP addresses that the router can assign. Is that correct?

My IP cameras and routers are set static IP in the device, and I think I will assign my PC's also a static IP that way, while all other devices will have a reserved IP.

Do you suggest that the reserved IP's are within the range of the dynamic IP's the router can assign, and the Static IP's outside that range?

Yes.

The reserved IP's should be within the range you've declared as part of the DHCP IP Pool, and the Static IPs set on the individual connecting devices must be outside the DHCP Pool range. Luckily you can set where the DHCP Pool begins and how large it will be.

Thanks to Cloggie for the suggestion about the IP scanner, it reminded me that I had such a software installed on my PC.

Now with using that software I discovered that one of the Android streamers get a different mac address each time it is rebooted.

It is the same device I thought I had mistaken for the "mysterious" MAC address, then wrote it down from the device settings, and now it has another MAC address again in the settings.

How is this possible?

When I tried to identify the OEM of that MAC hardware address it came back as unknown. The MAC hardware address can be used to identify (or confirm usage) of a device. Some programs/firmware are deliberately made to randomize the MAC hardware addresses used to make long-term usage difficult/impossible to verify.

note: sorry for the odd quotes, running into ThaiVisa quote restrictions.

[TheCruncher]

The Minix and some other android streamers have a separate limited settings app from the Android settings app where you can set the Static IP and some other settings like screen resolution. Actually setting related to the box firmware.

Anyway both setting menus must be related somewhere, because in the boxes with the separate setting menu there is no option to set Static IP in the Android Ethernet settings.

The box with the random MAC address is a CS918Plus, which must be knock off as it is pure crap, and also doesn't have an IMEI or doesn't identify the network in the "about device" settings.

I don't worry too much about that as it is used as my sons box, is connected with Ethernet, and the Yatse remote will not be used on it anyway. But it cleared up the mystery MAC address I found earlier.

Thanks for the advice, I think everything is understood now.

[RichCor]

I have a CS918 aka MK888/K-R42/MK908/T428/MinixX7 running custom firmware set up on our Sony flatscreen for the Thai family to watch movies movies movies.

Works great for them.

On some firmware they'll give you a setting somewhere, in other firmware you need to replace a 'package' and set a MAC address, or flash different firmware that doesn't contain that 'feature'.

[manarak]

It's getting more complicated. My IP cameras show 2 MAC addresses.

If I go in to the camera settings and click on network settings I get a mac address, while when i click on wireless settings I get a completely different IP address.

This is normal if your cameras are equipped with a wifi interface and also an ethernet interface.

MAC addresses do not uniquely identify devices.

They do uniquely identify network interfaces, and one device can have several network interfaces.

So if assigning an IP address to a camera in my router, binding it to a specific mac address, can I use either of both addresses or do I need to use the WIFI mac for the wireless connected and the network mac for the ones connected by Ethernet?

you will need to use the MAC address of whatever interface the camera uses to connect to your network.

A camera can use both connections at the same time, as a computer can.

Also, the principle of one IP address per network interface applies, so the camera can have 2 IPs.