Where did my devices go?

Eruke

Hello FingFam. I’m back all confused again. But hey, I learned about VPNs a bit last time! I’m learning. My question this go around is regarding my devices. Today seemed odd. I’m only seeing my phone and router. Says router is offline. Shows my phone as online. But k not seeing my 2 Amazon fire sticks, my wife’s phone, my Sones phone, my sons desktop computer, and my wife’s chrome book. They are in the same network as i am. How come they do not show up on device list????? And how am I online with modem/router showing not online? I’ turned off mobile data and went straight WiFi and it works. I’m using an iPhone running os14.1

Eruke

Robin_from_Fing

Hi @Eruke
As Fing App is a network monitoring device which largely focuses on Wifi rather than ethernet connection as with wired connection or mobile data, it is a dedicated connection that becomes hard for anyone to monitor. So, when a device(router) has made an ethernet connection to provide internet to a device, it provides a set of IP address from its pool of address after communicating with the DHCP server. Thus, for Fing App, it will be shown as those IP addresses are being used/reserved by the router rather than the device itself because those devices are talking to the internet through a dedicated connection to your Access Point(router/extender/switch). And it is responsibility of that Access Point to provide an IP address to particular device. 
 If you are using mobile data then you will not see any other device apart from yourself as it is not a wifi connection but a dedicated connection.
If you can switch to wifi on your device for Internet and then run a scan, you will see those IP addresses as separate with the name and icon of the device and not the router itself.

Eruke

thank you for replying @Robin . The m using the app currently. It used to show all of the connected devices while I’m on WiFi with my mobile device. I was in the middle of identifying and labeling them all. Then the other day I hit refresh and the only thing that showed up as online was my mobile device. It even said my modem was offline, but it isn’t and neither are the other devices that I tracked down as my fire sticks and family cell phones and computers.

Robin_from_Fing

Hi @Eruke
Were you scanning the same access point or a different one? Are you using Fingbox? Are you using any VPN? Which device are you using to run Fing app? Is it an Apple device or Android device?

Eruke

I thought I was using the same access point. Meaning I didn’t change anything that I’m aware of. I’m currently using and have been mobile app for now. I am using a VPN. I’m using my iphone11 IOS 14.2. it’s odd to me because when I 1st got this new phone I downloaded the app and all of my devices showed up for the exception of a few generics that I didn’t confirm yet, but now only my phone shows up and sometimes my router shows.

it should show:

My Iphone

Wifes Mobile

Sons Mobile x2 (still uses old phone to go online sometimes)

Son’s Dessktop

Wifes Chromebook

Living Room Firestick

Livingroom Firestick Remote (assuming these would be generic devices??)

Bedroom Firstick

Bedroom Firestick Remote

Router

??Modem?? is modem supposed to show too?

Robin_from_Fing

To confirm, @Eruke
Have you enabled the location permissions for the Fing mobile app? Also, have you disabled the Private MAC address from the Wifi settings? If you disable the VPN, do you see any changes. With VPN FIng app does not work very well as it hides the real network making it difficult to see the devices behind real network.

Eruke

@Robin yes on the location permission. Have it set to allow when using app. As for the “private MAC address from WiFi settings” I see a tab “private address” and it’s on, but it doesn’t state anything about “private Mac”....is that the same thing? As for the VPN, I will turn it off and see. Will turning it off create a possible issue in regards to security?

Robin_from_Fing

Eruke said:

@Robin yes on the location permission. Have it set to allow when using app. As for the “private MAC address from WiFi settings” I see a tab “private address” and it’s on, but it doesn’t state anything about “private Mac”....is that the same thing? As for the VPN, I will turn it off and see. Will turning it off create a possible issue in regards to security?

No, Disabling VPN will allow Fing app to read your network and then identify the device behind it. Please let me know how it follows.