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Merge multiple MAC-addresses to one device





Hi,
I'm asking, if it'll be possible in the future, to merge multiple MAC-addresses to one device. Lots of devices could connect to network through different network-cards (e. g. LAN, WLAN, portreplicator or USB2LAN). They are shown as seperated devices within the fing.app-list. Ofcoz a device will be offline (LAN) when it's connected over WLAN. It'll be helpful to merge this kind of devices to one device.
regards,
mozarella
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- just connect to the access point and run a Fing scan and it will tell Fing App it's part of your network.
Though, I'm guessing you would like to do something more with the MAC addresses.
I guess you are wanting to know about manually entering MAC address and merging them? We currently don't support this feature but it's something to keep in mind. I'm adding the tag FeatureRequest to this post. Any more details you can share on this would be great.
Community Manager at Fing
I would like to see that too
New sub-category here: https://community.fing.com/categories/feature-requests
Community Manager at Fing
It is rather annoying that many devices on my network use different MAC addresses where it is the same device.
Usually we are talking abaout a laptop that has wired lan, wifi 2.4G and wifi 5G but I even have a laptop that swithes between 2 different MACs for 5G, no clue why but I suppose higher and lower channels.
The result is that my fingbox lists 52 devices where I only have about 30 network devices in my home which makes it less comprehensive so a merge devices would be a great feature.
Just to add to the mix...
I have a device that only has a wired connection. It is plugged into a port on a Wi-Fi Extender box. If the extender capability isn't enabled the physical MAC address appears on the router side. If it is enabled a virtual address is used instead. This wasn't a big deal until I needed to switch to the latter.
I run the Fing app from a phone which may connect to Wi-Fi on the router or the extender. So whether I see the virtual or physical address depends where it is connected to.
Multiple interfaces being seen as multiple devices isn't ideal, but in my case a single interface with a single MAC address is listed twice and that is really annoying. Understandable, but annoying.
It's not ideal, but it's also something that can happen. In addition it's entirely possible that two lists are maintained by different teams.
I know that one of the aims for @VioletChepil with this forum was to try and fix some of these communication issues: in fact part of the choice of this forum software was to create a more streamlined approach between the users and the developers. The Fing team is trying hard to mitigate these issues you've had in the past, but sadly when one gets growth, this sort of thing sometimes happens.
Community Manager at Fing
managed to dupe this in my thread which can be removed: https://community.fing.com/discussion/2130/combine-wired-and-wireless-device-mac-into-a-single-fing-device#latest
but to stress this is definitely something I would be keen to see added!
@mozarella dont forget to upvote your own post! @OrangeBucket upvote too
Many devices have multiple network interfaces (e.g. WiFi ANS ethernet, multiple Ethernet connections). These appear today as separate devices.
Would be great to have the option to “merge”/“group” for network connections as a singular device.
Thanks for your post. I will include this suggestion for our developers to review. If other users want this feature to get implemented, please upvote the initial post. Thanks again.
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https://community.fing.com/discussion/comment/12770#Comment_12770
Bon Vivant and Raconteur
A device, as the list name implies, should represent a single physical (or virtual) device regardless of the number of MACs, IPs, or interfaces associated with it. There will be always be edge cases, but it would be safe to assume that most devices more sophisticated than a phone can have multiple interfaces exposed to the network. Desktops, Laptops, NASs, and Servers are a great example of this. It would also probably be safe to assume that most users interested in Fing are probably a cut above the average Internet user and are significantly more likely to have at least one device with multiple network interfaces on their network.
It also bears noting that their is a significant volume of users that will never take the time to find the forum, look for a specific issue, create an account, and vote on it.
Well, that’s certainly one way to look at this. There’s no disputing that a single device can have multiple network interfaces and MAC addresses. I see the way to display this information as a programming choice. If concentrating on the device, it would make sense to incorporate all the interfaces in the device's info display. If however, the displayed info is focusing on device addressing, the various interfaces can be separated or grouped by WiFi, Ethernet, or even Bluetooth, for example. In my view, this is not a “bug”, but a feature - it’s all about how you look at it (IMHO). Cheers!
I have 2 different classes of devices that could benefit from this.
1. Laptops: the MAC address on the built in Wi-Fi is consistent, but I have several USB based NICs each with its own MAC address. Obviously not all are connected at the same time. BTW, windows 10 now has a feature that will randomize your MAC address on the Wi-Fi.
2. My NAS box. It has 4 hardwired nic ports that can all be used to increase bandwidth to the network.