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Forum Discussion
August device in device manager
I have an unconnected device in my device manager that is a long alphanumeric string and below that it says August. When I go to the august website it says they make smart locks. We have never had a smart lock. Anyone know what this could have been?
4 Replies
One guess: a WiFi device that has the "randomize MAC address" feature enabled.
Responding to paranoia about "Big Brother" tracking people by which WiFi systems they connect to (Hmmm. was at Starbucks about 7am every day this week. Hotel WiFi at 9pm on Wednesday. Kaiser Medical Center on Friday afternoon.... etc.) Apple, Android, and even laptops now have a feature to create a fake MAC address for the WiFi adapter.
https://www.centurylink.com/home/help/internet/secure-wifi/What-is-MAC-randomization.html
When the Orbi attempts to determine which company manufactured the WiFi adapter in a new device, sometimes the random value matches some actual company value.
Being a tiny bit OCD (maybe a big bit), I like devices connected to my home network to have the same IP address. But, every time Apple updates iOS, it turns this feature on again (after I have carefully disabled it). Really annoying.
Thank you. So to turn it off I just disable the private network switch on the network?
Delete the device from the app table of connected devices.
Turn off the feature on any smart phones, tablets, or laptops.
