Odd MAC Addresses (with no ip addresses) in 'My Network' 'log'

[steviebobs1]

Hi again.

Having not 'delved' into my hub for a while, I noticed today that I had 5 entries under my 2.4g Wireless devices. They have no names, that field just repeats their Mac Address. They have no ip addresses and they each have the comment  'This device either does not support or is not configured for IPv4 addressing’.  They have no downloaded or uploaded data.

I just don't know what they are.

I tried inputting the Mac Addresses into a MAC Address look-up site and got no vendor results. At first I thought they were Bluetooth devices but they have a standard 8 bit Mac Addresses, not the longer Bluetooth ones. I believe the first 3 pairs of digits relate to the vendor?

The first three pairs of the five entries are:          24:A7:DC,      26:53:EE,       7A:F2:00,       3A:D3:67,    A6:04:7A

I tried a MAC ‘lookup service’ which indicated the first address is a BSKYB one (I do have Sky Q), but the other 4 all come up as ‘vendor not found’

Anyone help? Thanks.

S

[Les-Gibson]

They're probably 'Private MAC Addresses" as in iOS 14 upwards and some Android devices (Android 10 (?) upwards)

[steviebobs1]

Hi, Les-Gibson, and thanks for that.

We have 2 iphones (both iOS 15) and 3 ipads (iOS 9,12, and 15)  connected to the router  with DHCP allocated ip addresses (which we can see, but only 3 would 'comply' to the  'iOS 14 and upwards' category).

Can I see the 'Private MAC addresses' on the IOS devices? I have tried to find without success. 

S

[Les-Gibson]

Yes, I believe you can disable it in settings but it's there for security.

Have a read here https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT211227 it may answer your questions

[TimCurtis]

@steviebobs1 

It may be there for security as @Les-Gibson mentions but absolutely unnecessary on your home network and actually can cause issues with the HomeHubs by eventually filling the allocation tables.

[steviebobs1]

Thanks Tim.

I rebooted the router yesterday and only one of the 5 'odd' Mac addresses re-appeared and it is the one that relates to BSKYB.

A question for the experts? Can a blue-tooth device 'register' on the router log? And, if it does, I assume the router is unable to allocate an ip address so it may be just seen as a MAC address?

Steve

[gg30340]

Bluetooth signal does not connect to the hub and therefore can not register on it.

Do you have powerline adaptors and if so were/are they used to connect the Sky device to your hub?

[steviebobs1]

Hi gg

I don't use any powerline adaptors etc. Thanks for the bluetooth answer. In my search for the answer to the odd connections I started to look a bit further afield, at bluetooths etc, and even my remote car key fobs !!

Steve

[gg30340 · Accepted solution]

I suspect that the errant MAC address is going to remain a mystery. If it has not been allocated an IP address and is not using any data I would say that it is nothing to worry about.

It might be that you have been allocated a refurbished/used hub and it may not have been reset so a factory reset of the hub by pressing the button on the rear rather than just a restart may clear it.

[steviebobs1]

Thanks again gg and thanks to all who have helped.

regards

Steve