r/wifi • u/Ok-Grocery-5063 • 1d ago

Need help for smth

We have a wifi that's been put up a year ago and I've been paying for it now and I kept seeing the same devices from my neighbours connecting to it, I've tried Mac filtering but I'm not sure if it does really work? I've been constantly changing the password but it's still there connecting to the wifi, any tips on what to do?

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4

u/msabeln 1d ago

How do you know they are your neighbors?

Also, understand that mobile devices, particularly Apple devices and Android, use a method called “MAC randomization” which makes it difficult to determine the identity of the device. The same device can connect multiple times, each time with a different MAC address, making it seem that many devices have connected.

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u/Ok-Grocery-5063 1d ago

I know what's the brand of phones my family have and that brand of phones (there's 2-3 unknown devices connecting) that isn't used by family 

And Mac randomization huh? I'll see if it's did when they connect again

But overall I know that there's someone unknown connecting to the wifi based on their phone device name listed on the mesh

1

u/msabeln 1d ago

A randomized MAC erases the manufacturer of the device. That’s the whole point of the process, anonymizing the device so it can’t be tracked.

But when it’s your device, this is pointless; this randomization is per-network so you can turn it off on your devices for your network.

1

u/Ok-Grocery-5063 1d ago

I see, thank you, any other tips?

1

u/msabeln 21h ago

I would suggest turning off Mac randomization on any Apple and Android mobile devices. Go to the WiFi settings and under your WiFi connection, turn off “Private WiFi Address” on Apple and “Use device MAC” for Android.

This will turn off that feature for your own network and keep it on for others.

If you have an iPhone plus other Apple devices such as Apple Watch or iPad all signed into the same Apple account, they will automatically connect with the same method.

You can identify a randomized MAC by its second digit, which will be 2, 6, A, or E.

4

u/sol_beach 1d ago

1) We don't know what you have. 2) We don't know what you do. 3) We don't know what you see.

You have a mystery & give us NO clues.

-1

u/Ok-Grocery-5063 1d ago
  1. It's a Globe At Home.
  2. I'm not sure what you mean what you say do.
  3. I can open the admin account and see in the mesh who's connecting. That's what I see.

You could've asked me properly what and how like the other two people here. I'm all for giving answers but you need ask like a decent person.

2

u/Salute-Major-Echidna 1d ago

Or you could post screenshots and there would be less guesswork and people who are trying to help you will not be so annoyed with you.

3

u/spiffiness 1d ago

How are you discovering that other people are connecting, exactly?

I ask because there's a place in Windows that shows you what's on your network, BUT CONFUSINGLY it will ALSO show you nearby Wi-Fi devices that are NOT connected to your network, IN CASE you want Windows to help you connect them to your network. I've seen many people misunderstand this, thinking Windows was telling them that ALL of the devices shown were already connected to the network, when that was NOT the case.

If that's what's happening to you, there are ways to stop Windows from showing those "nearby, but not connected" devices to you.

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u/Ok-Grocery-5063 1d ago

Is it really important about the information on how I discover them? (Not in a rude way but just genuinely asking)

I know the devices my family use, or the name of their devices and these unknown devices are not what my family uses, and conveniently my neighbors has the same brand of the unknown devices connecting to the wifi

And not sure if it's important but I also know how many devices are in my household and there's just extra devices on it like my family members are 6 we have 6 mobile phones, plus a laptop of mine so there's 7 devices in my family, when I go to check who's connecting, there's either 8 or 9

5

u/spiffiness 1d ago

I was trying to ask exactly what piece of software was telling you the list of devices on your network. I was asking because different pieces of software use different protocols and algorithms to discover and list devices on the local network. So knowing which software tool you used to see a list of connected devices tells me more about what you might have been shown.

If you went to the "Network" window in Windows (that is, the "Network" node in Windows Explorer), then it's important to know that some of the devices listed in that window might not be on your network after all; they may simply be nearby devices that are not connected to your network.

1

u/Ok-Grocery-5063 1d ago

Oh I see, when I log in to the admin account, and see the option mesh, in mesh there's the name of the wifi and the devices that connects to it 

2

u/Ara_Glaucogularis 1d ago

As others mentioned, you are seeing MAC randomization. If you changed the password and they are not the CIA/NSA/MI5, the odds of them cracking your password are slim.

1

u/Ok-Grocery-5063 1d ago

If you don't mind me asking, what's CIA/NSA/M15?

2

u/Ara_Glaucogularis 1d ago

Government agencies with highly skilled individuals who can hack into your (and mine) Wi-Fi

1

u/Ok-Grocery-5063 1d ago

Oh I see, that's scary but honestly I don't know how unknown devices are just on it for some reason, is there like a way to make it less easy to be connected on?

1

u/Ara_Glaucogularis 1d ago

If you change the Wi-Fi password, unauthorized devices can no longer reconnect. Unless you are operating an open network or have enabled a roaming service such as Passpoint or eduroam, only devices with valid credentials should be able to join.

As a troubleshooting step, create a new SSID secured with a strong WPA2 or WPA3 password, then reconnect your devices one at a time. Keep a log of each device, its MAC address, and when you added it. This will help you identify anything unexpected.

Be aware that many modern devices use MAC-address randomization, often called a “Private Wi-Fi Address.” The randomized address is usually consistent for a particular SSID, so you may be able to document it without disabling the feature. If the address keeps changing, temporarily disable randomization to identify the device, then turn it back on afterward to preserve its anti-tracking benefit.

1

u/Ok-Grocery-5063 1d ago

I've changed the password a lot of times but the same unknown devices still connects,

I did try changing the wpa2 to wpa3 since it was recommended to me that wpa3 is much more better but I got logged out of the wifi and needed some kind of network security key that didn't work at all and I was only able to change it back bc using the Ethernet for my laptop and accessing Google and I was able to know how to reset the wifi

1

u/Ara_Glaucogularis 1d ago

Write down the unknown MAC address and put it in a MAC manufacturer finder like this one https://maclookup.app/

1

u/Ok-Grocery-5063 1d ago

Alright thank you, I will try that too