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Forum Discussion
Wi-Ko
Mar 27, 2026Tutor
iPhone Random generated MAC addresses
My RAX80 is set to REJECT new devices. My iPhone is registered as an ALLOWED device via it's HARD MAC address as are various other devices. But at least the iPhones and iPads now use Random generated...
StephenB
Mar 28, 2026Guru - Experienced User
CrimpOn wrote:I would clear that table completely and set all Apple devices to use the hardware MAC address when connected to the home network.
FWIW, my apple devices are set to "fixed" (which is the default), and not "off" (which uses the hardware MAC address). This is configured for each wifi SSID in the connection list of the apple device, so "fixed" will still use the same MAC address no matter what band you connect to.
Do you have any wifi extenders on your network? They often will transform the MAC addresses of the extender clients on their uplink to the main router.
Wi-Ko wrote:Assuming router somehow still can verify that that "new" random address is legit and verifies is to the registered device via it's registered HARD MAC address,
As CrimpOn says, that assumption is wrong. The router is just looking at the source mac address in the wifi packets sent by the device. Nothing beyond that.
CrimpOn wrote:p.s. In almost 10 years, I have never enabled Access Control.
I don't either. It doesn't provide much additional security, since someone with the skills to break into your wifi also has the skills needed to spoof the MAC addresses.
But I do reserve some IP addresses, and setting the phones/tablets to use "fixed" (or off) on the home network also is needed for address reservation to work for those devices.