Assign two MAC addresses to a device?

[DickenSerm]

My laptop is recognized as two devices, once via the MAC address of the WLAN card and once via the RJ45 network card. Is it possible to assign two MAC addresses to one device?

[jokob-sk]

Hi @DickenSerm,

No, currently that's not possible. MACs are unique identifiers and each new mac generates a new device.

[DickenSerm]

I think that's a bit of an unfortunate solution, as the number of devices is rather meaningless.

[jokob-sk]

Please suggest alternatives on how to identify a device if you have any ideas. Most scans return IP or Mac addresses, nothing else. IP addresses change more frequently than the mac address. I'm open to suggestions.

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On Thu, 4 July 2024, 19:01 DickenSerm, ***@***.***> wrote: I think that's a bit of an unfortunate solution, as the number of devices is rather meaningless. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#724 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AW5URDFO3BACVQ3WECCXYITZKUFQJAVCNFSM6AAAAABKK5PHLSVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDEMBYGQ3DSMRSGM> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[DickenSerm]

Wouldn't it be possible to say "you are not a device, but a card of this existing device" on a new device? And then have it listed on the existing device as a second MAC address.

[jokob-sk]

How would you determine that in an automatic way? Or would that be fully manual?

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On Thu, 4 July 2024, 20:54 DickenSerm, ***@***.***> wrote: Wouldn't it be possible to say "you are not a device, but a card of this existing device" on a new device? And then have it listed on the existing device as a second MAC address. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#724 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AW5URDC75UCTXWM7GI5CVSDZKUSVZAVCNFSM6AAAAABKK5PHLSVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDEMBYGY4DGMRXHA> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[DickenSerm]

I was thinking of a manual selection option that would be ignored by default if you don't select anything.

[jokob-sk]

So, it would be purely visual, functionality wise, like notifications, would nothing change?

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On Thu, 4 July 2024, 21:33 DickenSerm, ***@***.***> wrote: I was thinking of a manual selection option that would be ignored by default if you don't select anything. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#724 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AW5URDFSVL3QB2KZ6MWZSHDZKUXINAVCNFSM6AAAAABKK5PHLSVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDEMBYG42DKNBZGI> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[DickenSerm]

Yes, in principle. My main concern is that the device count is correct.

So I don't have the laptop listed twice under devices and it isn't counted twice.

[jokob-sk]

Hummm, I'll think about it. But it's not trivial. There is a lot of dependent functionality. Cross linking via Mac in the app. The network tree. Why is your concern the device count? What count is important and why? Can you give me one user cases? I'd rather create a separate view (e.g called Physical devices) than update other dependencies such as events or the presence views.

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On Thu, 4 July 2024, 22:19 DickenSerm, ***@***.***> wrote: Yes, in principle. My main concern is that the device count is correct. So I don't have the laptop listed twice under devices and it isn't counted twice. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#724 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AW5URDDJJ4GXAMEFYMZ6MJ3ZKU4V3AVCNFSM6AAAAABKK5PHLSVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDEMBYHAZTQOJYHE> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[DickenSerm]

I find it confusing when 90 devices are shown to me, but in reality I only have 45 physical devices (exaggerated example).

The idea with the extra view for physical devices is a good idea and would be completely sufficient.

But I would then call this view devices and rename the current devices to interfaces or something similar.

[jokob-sk]

I'll think about it, but I'm not decided, because I still don't see that much value in this given the effort. The more I think about it the less I want to implement it. The UI will become confusing, as some reports rely on devices, some on interfaces. Not sure, I'll sleep on it. If you can give me more use cases, and suggestions how to keep the UI clean, then that would be great.

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On Thu, 4 July 2024, 23:01 DickenSerm, ***@***.***> wrote: I find it confusing when 90 devices are shown to me, but in reality I only have 45 physical devices (exaggerated example). The idea with the extra view for physical devices is a good idea and would be completely sufficient. But I would then call this view devices and rename the current devices to interfaces or something similar. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#724 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AW5URDECGR3HBX57ANEGVUTZKVBTVAVCNFSM6AAAAABKK5PHLSVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDEMBYHEZTCNZSHA> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[DickenSerm]

Glad she even thought about it :)

I don't have any further suggestions right now, but I'll think about it :)

[vladaurosh]

I agree with @jokob-sk
This is network scanner so 2 nics are 2 network devices.
How do you handle if your RJ45 is disconnected and wlan is connected? How to show in UI which one is offline/online?
Also given that UI has IP address info, how this would look like for a computer with 5 nics?

[FlyingToto]

Stepping back a second, the same issue applies to any devices with multiple interfaces like routers...
IMHO, it would make sense to think of a way to use a compound unique key in the database like:

nodename+mac+ip+hostname (circa old SystemV unix).
nodename = device name (1 per machine)...
hostname = name associated to specific IP (1 or more per IP)
mac = 1 per interface

Then in the plugins/screens/reports provide views by nodenames (ie devices) vs by hostnames/ip or MAC...

This wouldn't be trivial to implement, most likely the core DB needs to be quite updated and most plugins will need some adapters or rewritten... but this should allow to handle any L1-L3 assets...

of course, one could also ask to consider Layer4... nodename+mac+ip+hostname+PORT
this would allow to perform further services levels inventories/monitors...

[sanvalerius]

Hi, first of all thanks for the work done !

I vote for a feature like this, I have the similar use case, for example a tablet device that present 2 entries (different macs) depending on if it connects to the WiFi 5Ghz or the WiFi 2.4 Ghz..
The @FlyingToto approach seems good to me.

[stanelie]

+1 here too, I have several laptops that connect either through wifi, their ethernet port or the ethernet port of their docking station. A way to "group" such devices into 1 unique device would be better to establish "presence".

[stanelie]

The way they implement this on a TP-Link Deco router I have is they use this for parental control. You create a profile, say "kid1", and then you assign one or more devices to it. So, it is a distinct list of items. This list would be very useful to display a "person present" list.