Wrong name reported every new host

SuperMario

Hello, i have a fingbox, and i always receive a wrong host name when i connect a new pc at my lan. I am a computer technician and I connect many different computers to my local network to perform maintenancem every time i connect a new pc via LAN, i receive the notification, but 90% the name is wrong  and it is the name of some old computer or wireless device previously connected and no longer connected. For example, now i connected a notebook, installed a windows, and this is what fing reported to me:

Network	(censored)
Device	Galaxy-A5-2017
Type	Mobile
Vendor	Samsung / Galaxy A5
IP address	192.168.1.240
MAC address	(censored)
Discovery time	Oggi 12.11

This is totally wrong, the "Galaxy a5 2017" is no longer connected to my wifi, i just connected a lenovo notebook with a windows S.O.
I use DHCP, It seems to me that fingbox does nothing but remember some old IP of some old device, and then tell me the name of the first device that got that IP, instead of telling me the current host name and the real data to which it is can be traced from the MAC address.

Marc

@Robin or @Ciaran , is there anything @SuperMario can do to mitigate Fing using stale information?  

kltaylor

Hi @SuperMario welcome to the community and thanks for asking your question.

I'd like to first address this part of your question if I may:

"... It seems to me that fingbox does nothing but remember some old IP of some old device."

Fingbox works off of a physical MAC address for each connection, and not the IP address.  the MAC address "typically" is a static address which is assigned to the physical hardware by its manufacturer and normally will not change (unless there is a software option to spoof or change it.  Some routers have this function.)  It really doesn't look at the IP address since that can be changed or 'assigned' to a device on the network.

However that really only addresses part of your question.  Have you recently changed hardware at all?  Upgraded the router/gateway?  With something like this it may be advantageous to reset the Fingbox to factory defaults via the inset button located near the cable connectors on the device and rebuild your LAN information that way.  It sounds like something was updated or changed and Fingbox is expecting 'ABC' and it's now seeing 'DEF' for the lack of another way to put it.

Let me know how that works out for you, please.

Marc

@kltaylor , you hit the issue well.  It should be keying off the MAC address but here is an example where the MAC would have had to be different as we are seeing two different hardware devices being confused with one another (Phone versus PC).

SuperMario

kltaylor of course it would be absurd if fingbox recognize a device based on a variable thing like IP, but unfortunately its notifications make it think. In addition, the MAC address of the new connected PC is correctly reported, and it is certainly not spoofed, so why in addition to mistaking the host-name, the MAC manufacturer's data are reported wrong too? It is not known where this data goes from, only the IP and MAC address are correct, everything else is wrong. I haven't changed anything on my LAN (this defect has always been there, from the first day, I was counting on updates to correct it), and it's a simple LAN: the router from my service provider, 3 access point, 3 switches. Only one class of IP addresses, only one DHCP server (which is the router mentioned above). All fixed devices have fixed IP addresses, the DHCP server provides variable addresses to temporary devices by taking them from a small pool outside the fixed addresses.

kltaylor

Marc said:

@kltaylor , you hit the issue well.  It should be keying off the MAC address but here is an example where the MAC would have had to be different as we are seeing two different hardware devices being confused with one another (Phone versus PC).

Absolutely, and if I glanced over that fact then I apologize. 

kltaylor

SuperMario said:

kltaylor of course it would be absurd if fingbox recognize a device based on a variable thing like IP, but unfortunately its notifications make it think. In addition, the MAC address of the new connected PC is correctly reported, and it is certainly not spoofed, so why in addition to mistaking the host-name, the MAC manufacturer's data are reported wrong too? It is not known where this data goes from, only the IP and MAC address are correct, everything else is wrong. I haven't changed anything on my LAN (this defect has always been there, from the first day, I was counting on updates to correct it), and it's a simple LAN: the router from my service provider, 3 access point, 3 switches. Only one class of IP addresses, only one DHCP server (which is the router mentioned above). All fixed devices have fixed IP addresses, the DHCP server provides variable addresses to temporary devices by taking them from a small pool outside the fixed addresses.

If the MAC address is correct for that device, but the description is wrong, I would surmise that it could be one of the following:

• Information in the community-driven database is incorrect and needs to be updated
• Information in the local database is incorrect and needs to be updated

When the information comes across, are you presented with an Edit icon and can you change the information to reflect the proper information?  I agree that it's indeed odd to see a new device being added to the network, but not bringing up the correct manufacturer information from the MAC address.

I assume of course, that if you search for that MAC address through your favorite MAC Address Lookup site, it comes up with the right information?  If so then the information that Fing uses is somehow incorrect and needs to be addressed.

kltaylor

Marc said:

@kltaylor , you hit the issue well.  It should be keying off the MAC address but here is an example where the MAC would have had to be different as we are seeing two different hardware devices being confused with one another (Phone versus PC).

This could have been a bit easier if the MAC address was provided, if not publicly with the last four redacted, or in a private DM so that it can be verified. 

SuperMario

Hello, the MAC address is: 68:F7:28:8A:xx:yy 

SuperMario

Another PC attached to the lan (asus m/b, win10 s.o.) and another "Galaxy A5 2017" 😡🤬😡🤬

Device	Galaxy-A5-2017
Type	Computer
Vendor	Asus / Windows
IP address	192.168.1.244
MAC address	A8:5E:45:6A:xx:xx
Discovery time	Oggi 11.49

SuperMario

Type = "computer", Device = "Galaxy A5 2017", completely inconsistent data!! 

Marc

@Robin or @Ciaran , Is there any insight you folks can provide to @SuperMario and the issue he’s brought up?

kltaylor

SuperMario said:

Hello, the MAC address is: 68:F7:28:8A:xx:yy 

MAC Address Details

Company

LCFC(HeFei) Electronics Technology co., ltd

Address

Hefei Anhui 230000
Hefei Economic And Technological Development Zone, HeFei, Anhui, China
CHINA

Range

68:F7:28:00:00:00 - 68:F7:28:FF:FF:FF

Type

IEEE MA-L

Information about this vendor points to a possible Lenovo device ... not completely satisfied with that but do you have a Lenovo machine on your network?

kltaylor

SuperMario said:

Type = "computer", Device = "Galaxy A5 2017", completely inconsistent data!! 

Yeah that doesn't make a lot of sense either ... let's see what @Robin has about this and see if we can uncover the issue and resolve for you.

Robin

Thanks @marc and @kltaylor for the support. After reviewing the case, if the hostname or vendor is displayed wrong then @SuperMario you can manually identify the correct device so Fingbox can learn from it. Also, Will it be possible for you to delete all devices from the network and then when the Fingbox does a new scan see if something changes.

Also, To isolate the issue, I would suggest to:  

• Install the Fing Desktop  

• Go to Connectivity tab  

• Scan for devices  

• Click on the specific device  

• Click on Icon "Recognize" device  

On our latest release of Fing Desktop (1.4.1), we have actually included New feature: Device recognition - It is now possible to manually recognize devices: when Fing recognition is not sharp enough, you can manually provide brand and model of your devices. Which will hopefully be of benefit to you. 

 

Robin

One more thing, @SuperMario
Can you please let me know about your network set up and where the Fingbox is connected. I believe there is one more router which is being used as extender which is creating some issues. I remember this from one of the users using two routers over a switch which messed up the device recognition for Fingbox.

SuperMario

kltaylor said:

SuperMario said:

Hello, the MAC address is: 68:F7:28:8A:xx:yy 

Information about this vendor points to a possible Lenovo device ... not completely satisfied with that but do you have a Lenovo machine on your network?

Yes, this was a lenovo notebook.

SuperMario

Robin said:

One more thing, @SuperMario
Can you please let me know about your network set up and where the Fingbox is connected. I believe there is one more router which is being used as extender which is creating some issues. I remember this from one of the users using two routers over a switch which messed up the device recognition for Fingbox.

- 1 router
- several unmanaged switches
- several access point in access point mode (not router)

SuperMario

Robin said:

Thanks @marc and @kltaylor for the support. After reviewing the case, if the hostname or vendor is displayed wrong then @SuperMario you can manually identify the correct device so Fingbox can learn from it. Also, Will it be possible for you to delete all devices from the network and then when the Fingbox does a new scan see if something changes.

Also, To isolate the issue, I would suggest to:  

• Install the Fing Desktop  

• Go to Connectivity tab  

• Scan for devices  

• Click on the specific device  

• Click on Icon "Recognize" device  

On our latest release of Fing Desktop (1.4.1), we have actually included New feature: Device recognition - It is now possible to manually recognize devices: when Fing recognition is not sharp enough, you can manually provide brand and model of your devices. Which will hopefully be of benefit to you. 

 

----

SuperMario

Do we abandon all hope? 🤷‍♂️

Marc

@Robin , bump...  Any idea where @SuperMario troubleshooting should go now?

Robin

Thanks @Marc
the screenshot you shared is from the Fing web app. Did you try to manually identify the device from the Fing Desktop? Also, we are working on a feature that will enable to manually identify the O.S as well. It is still work in progress but as of now, the only to way to manually identify the device is to either delete the device from the list and then scan the network again or use the Fing Desktop to identify the devices or manually recognize the devices.