OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
I would highly suggest switching to OpenDNS, which is now owned and operated by Cisco, if anything, you are looking at better performance.
Unknown MAC Address on My WiFi
- Thread starter ZeeOSix
- Start date
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
I would highly suggest switching to OpenDNS, which is now owned and operated by Cisco, if anything, you are looking at better performance.
I probably will try switching over to OpenDNS, but think I'll wait a week or two and see if maybe the two CenturyLink DNSs are currently having issues that will be fixed soon. I might have to "brain probe" you then if I get stuck. Thanks for all your help OVERKILL ... and thanks to everyone else who gave info and advice !!
I would highly suggest switching to OpenDNS, which is now owned and operated by Cisco, if anything, you are looking at better performance.
I probably will try switching over to OpenDNS, but think I'll wait a week or two and see if maybe the two CenturyLink DNSs are currently having issues that will be fixed soon. I might have to "brain probe" you then if I get stuck. Thanks for all your help OVERKILL ... and thanks to everyone else who gave info and advice !!
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
I would highly suggest switching to OpenDNS, which is now owned and operated by Cisco, if anything, you are looking at better performance.
And, unlike the other big players offering free DNS, OpenDNS offers some free family filtering.
I would highly suggest switching to OpenDNS, which is now owned and operated by Cisco, if anything, you are looking at better performance.
And, unlike the other big players offering free DNS, OpenDNS offers some free family filtering.
OVERKILL - I forgot to ask, if I use the OpenDNS server addresses, should I change to those in both my modem/router and in Windows for my Ethernet NIC? Of should I just set the OpenDNS addresses in my modem/router and leave the DNS setting for the NIC as "Obtain DNS server address automatically" ?
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Originally Posted by ZeeOSix
OVERKILL - I forgot to ask, if I use the OpenDNS server addresses, should I change to those in both my modem/router and in Windows for my Ethernet NIC? Of should I just set the OpenDNS addresses in my modem/router and leave the DNS setting for the NIC as "Obtain DNS server address automatically" ?
As long as you change them in your modem/router for the LAN DHCP pool, your computer should receive them automatically. ipconfig /all will show you if it is getting the modem as a DNS proxy or your ISP's DNS servers at present.
OVERKILL - I forgot to ask, if I use the OpenDNS server addresses, should I change to those in both my modem/router and in Windows for my Ethernet NIC? Of should I just set the OpenDNS addresses in my modem/router and leave the DNS setting for the NIC as "Obtain DNS server address automatically" ?
As long as you change them in your modem/router for the LAN DHCP pool, your computer should receive them automatically. ipconfig /all will show you if it is getting the modem as a DNS proxy or your ISP's DNS servers at present.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
You are quite welcome
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Originally Posted by samven
It may be that your wireless router is always searching for nearby connections but they wont be allowed access without the password. You should be able to block that MAC and see if any of your devices loose connection. Also make sure your router is not broadcasting. It makes it more difficult if you bring in a new device but it stops outsiders from seeing your network.
No, it doesn't. Hiding the SSID is at best, inconvenient, it does not make your network more secure.
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Originally Posted by samven
It may be that your wireless router is always searching for nearby connections but they wont be allowed access without the password. You should be able to block that MAC and see if any of your devices loose connection. Also make sure your router is not broadcasting. It makes it more difficult if you bring in a new device but it stops outsiders from seeing your network.
No, it doesn't. Hiding the SSID is at best, inconvenient, it does not make your network more secure.
Admittedly much of this stuff is over my head but it's a great thread and I'm learning. I've gone into my router settings quite a few times and checked the Mac IDs ...
I have so many devices now it's become inconvenient or maybe better said the desire to spend my time doing it.
I did turn off my SSID one time but then I forgot which one but one of my devices stopped working.
So I turned it back on. With that said for conversation sake by having your SSID off doesn't that make it almost impossible for a neighbor nearby to find your network and hack into it?
And does it prevent the Google Street mapping truck from recording your SSID when it drives down your community block?
Also in my settings I could enter each Mac ID of all my devices and limit access in that manner. Wouldn't that be the most secure way to do things?
Originally Posted by samven
It may be that your wireless router is always searching for nearby connections but they wont be allowed access without the password. You should be able to block that MAC and see if any of your devices loose connection. Also make sure your router is not broadcasting. It makes it more difficult if you bring in a new device but it stops outsiders from seeing your network.
No, it doesn't. Hiding the SSID is at best, inconvenient, it does not make your network more secure.
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Originally Posted by samven
It may be that your wireless router is always searching for nearby connections but they wont be allowed access without the password. You should be able to block that MAC and see if any of your devices loose connection. Also make sure your router is not broadcasting. It makes it more difficult if you bring in a new device but it stops outsiders from seeing your network.
No, it doesn't. Hiding the SSID is at best, inconvenient, it does not make your network more secure.
Admittedly much of this stuff is over my head but it's a great thread and I'm learning. I've gone into my router settings quite a few times and checked the Mac IDs ...
I have so many devices now it's become inconvenient or maybe better said the desire to spend my time doing it.
I did turn off my SSID one time but then I forgot which one but one of my devices stopped working.
So I turned it back on. With that said for conversation sake by having your SSID off doesn't that make it almost impossible for a neighbor nearby to find your network and hack into it?
And does it prevent the Google Street mapping truck from recording your SSID when it drives down your community block?
Also in my settings I could enter each Mac ID of all my devices and limit access in that manner. Wouldn't that be the most secure way to do things?
Last edited:
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Originally Posted by alarmguy
So I turned it back on. With that said for conversation sake by having your SSID off doesn't that make it almost impossible for a neighbor nearby to find your network and hack into it?
And does it prevent the Google Street mapping truck from recording your SSID when it drives down your community block?
Also in my settings I could enter each Mac ID of all my devices and limit access in that manner. Wouldn't that be the most secure way to do things?
No. Anybody with the ability to break into your WiFi is going to know how to use a packet capture utility to:
A. Get the SSID that the devices they are interested in are connected to
B. Get a MAC address of one of those devices that they can hijack
Then, they typically brute-force the passphrase, which is the longest, and most difficult step. Once they have that, they join the network with the MAC of the client that they snagged, bypassing the filter.
The Google point is a red herring. There are myriad SSID's with the same name out there, typically even within the same town and unless you are in the country where the space between the houses is large enough that the SSID associated with a given house is obvious, it doesn't tell you which house has what SSID. I'm unclear as to the perceived value of Google collecting SSID's while they street mapping? These things regularly change (unlike an address) and since you can't map IP's to SSID's, the information is pretty much useless
So I turned it back on. With that said for conversation sake by having your SSID off doesn't that make it almost impossible for a neighbor nearby to find your network and hack into it?
And does it prevent the Google Street mapping truck from recording your SSID when it drives down your community block?
Also in my settings I could enter each Mac ID of all my devices and limit access in that manner. Wouldn't that be the most secure way to do things?
No. Anybody with the ability to break into your WiFi is going to know how to use a packet capture utility to:
A. Get the SSID that the devices they are interested in are connected to
B. Get a MAC address of one of those devices that they can hijack
Then, they typically brute-force the passphrase, which is the longest, and most difficult step. Once they have that, they join the network with the MAC of the client that they snagged, bypassing the filter.
The Google point is a red herring. There are myriad SSID's with the same name out there, typically even within the same town and unless you are in the country where the space between the houses is large enough that the SSID associated with a given house is obvious, it doesn't tell you which house has what SSID. I'm unclear as to the perceived value of Google collecting SSID's while they street mapping? These things regularly change (unlike an address) and since you can't map IP's to SSID's, the information is pretty much useless
Thank you overkill I enjoy reading your knowledgeable responses.
