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Forum Discussion
Virtual Mac Addresses with Nighthawk R9000 and Orbi
I have a list of static IP reservations on my Nighthawk R9000 router. My network server assigns access to certain resources based on IP address or in some cases MAC address of the connected devices. ...
Yes, the static IP reservation is a table similar to the Orbi LAN setup page, where you enter a list of MAC addresses and assign an IP address to each. I have done this on the R9000 router since it does not apply to the ORBI.
"Access based on IP address" refers to access to network resources, such as shared files on the server. These settings are setup on the server, not the router but depend on static IP assignment done by the router.
The ORBI is indeed scrambling my MAC addresses. and you are right, it is supper annoying. I wondered if it was a security "feature" that could be turned off, but I cannot find a setting anywhere. Do you know where that would be?
Sorry if I misspoke. I have individual devices which can scramble MAC addresses, at least one cell phone and all of my Linux boxes.
As far as I am aware, the Orbi simply reports the MAC address of attached devices. If it does not, this will be a great test case to escalate to Netgear support. All of my devices have a way to learn their MAC address (Windows config /all. Android phone on the "About" page, etc.)
Is is every single device which does not match the Orbi value? i.e. not even one matches?
At first it was every single device, which was attached through the Orbi that showed a scrambled MAC address. Several devices were wired into the R9000 and showed the same MAC address.
I reset the whole network back how it was before, using only the R9000 and not using the Orbi at all. Everything was still scrambled. I turned of the R9000 wifi radios and reset the Orbi as the WiFi Access Point. Now only 1 phone shows a different MAC address from before and from the MAC address listed in the Phone's about screen. I have no idea what is causing this, but I suspect it was a glitch or a bug, perhaps in the R9000 since the problem persisted when bypassing the Orbi.