13

Discussion topic: Unknown device

Reply
This message was authored by ken+lyndon This message was authored by: ken+lyndon

Unknown device

Good afternoon everyone,

I have several UKNOWN devices attached to my Sky router. Fortunately I have a list of all my devices, their names and their mac addresses. Nothing here is untoward, as all devices are accounted for, but I would like to know why the device name is displayed one day and changes to UKNOWN the next?

Thanks for any help.


Best Answers
This message was authored by lettice This message was authored by: lettice Answer

Re: Unknown device

Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more

This has been the case for Sky routers and other ISP routers for sometime.

Often it is an older mobile phone, tablet or Smart TV.
Do remember older Apple iPhones like the older 3GS 4/5 series (used to use a few of those as part of my home cctv system)  always came through as unknown.

Have seen it often for older smart TVs and tablets.


It is that the Mac adress lookup table is not correctly picking up the associated address.
As long as you can account for the device by Mac address it is not any concern.

- - - - - - - -
Sky Community Superuser
Sky Stream (2 pucks), Sky Ultrafast + using Sky SR203 hub. Sky Protect kit tester.

View this Answer within the discussion

Reply

All Replies

This message was authored by cookiemonsteruk This message was authored by: cookiemonsteruk

Re: Unknown device

Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more

@ken+lyndon 

 

Is there a mac address associated with unknown

----------------------------------------------------
Sky Stream , Sky Superfast, SR203 router, Tp link td w9970 + Asus RT AX58U (backup), Xbox Series X, google home mini, LG 43 inch UHD tv, samsung a5 2017 and samsung s21

If I get it right mark as answered
If I get it wrong humour me
If I say something you like give a thumbs up
This message was authored by cookiemonsteruk This message was authored by: cookiemonsteruk

Re: Unknown device

Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more

@ken+lyndon 

 

Are you running devices thru an unmanaged switch where the device will have to go through "learning" before mac and device are displayed

----------------------------------------------------
Sky Stream , Sky Superfast, SR203 router, Tp link td w9970 + Asus RT AX58U (backup), Xbox Series X, google home mini, LG 43 inch UHD tv, samsung a5 2017 and samsung s21

If I get it right mark as answered
If I get it wrong humour me
If I say something you like give a thumbs up
ken+lyndon
Topic Author
This message was authored by ken+lyndon This message was authored by: ken+lyndon

Re: Unknown device

Hi cookiemonsteruk,

 

Yep, all is well, I know what the device is as I know the mac address, but why does it show the device name on day 1, but the device name becomes unknown overnight, even though the all the details remain the same?

ken+lyndon
Topic Author
This message was authored by ken+lyndon This message was authored by: ken+lyndon

Re: Unknown device

no switches are used

This message was authored by cookiemonsteruk This message was authored by: cookiemonsteruk

Re: Unknown device

Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more

@ken+lyndon 

 

See previous post i slipped whilst you where replying .

----------------------------------------------------
Sky Stream , Sky Superfast, SR203 router, Tp link td w9970 + Asus RT AX58U (backup), Xbox Series X, google home mini, LG 43 inch UHD tv, samsung a5 2017 and samsung s21

If I get it right mark as answered
If I get it wrong humour me
If I say something you like give a thumbs up
ken+lyndon
Topic Author
This message was authored by ken+lyndon This message was authored by: ken+lyndon

Re: Unknown device

Thanks cookiemonsteruk,

There are no switches used, nearly all the traffic goes through wirless.

It's not a problem as I know what's attached, there are far worse things out there, I was just curious as to why the device name would disappear overnight.

 

This message was authored by jamesn123 This message was authored by: jamesn123

Re: Unknown device

Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more

@ken+lyndon 

Some devices dont present a proper name to the Sky hub so just show up as unknown. Usually its not fixable.

I am NOT a Sky Employee
Myself & Others offer our time to help others, please be respectful.
This message was authored by lettice This message was authored by: lettice Answer

Re: Unknown device

Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more

This has been the case for Sky routers and other ISP routers for sometime.

Often it is an older mobile phone, tablet or Smart TV.
Do remember older Apple iPhones like the older 3GS 4/5 series (used to use a few of those as part of my home cctv system)  always came through as unknown.

Have seen it often for older smart TVs and tablets.


It is that the Mac adress lookup table is not correctly picking up the associated address.
As long as you can account for the device by Mac address it is not any concern.

- - - - - - - -
Sky Community Superuser
Sky Stream (2 pucks), Sky Ultrafast + using Sky SR203 hub. Sky Protect kit tester.
ken+lyndon
Topic Author
This message was authored by ken+lyndon This message was authored by: ken+lyndon

Re: Unknown device

Thanks everyone for replying, it's not a problem I was just curious why the name would show one day disappear the next and be back on the third.

I suppose that's AI for you....

This message was authored by TrebleTA This message was authored by: TrebleTA

Re: Unknown device

It's the router overworked. I get unknown from my 5th gen echo yet all eariler ones show unless I have more than 5 devices attached then device names go to unknown. I have about 25 devices attached to mine and half my list device names are unknowen

Sky FTTP, SR203 hub self bridged to Asus AX82U. Sky Q UHD to Samsung QE55S95BAYXXU , Sky Q Mini.
This message was authored by Shakira This message was authored by: Shakira

Re: Unknown device

It's annoying when using Sky B Buddy, I have an iPhone 13 and it's exactly the same - UNKNOWN ???

This message was authored by Matt9300 This message was authored by: Matt9300

Re: Unknown device

Its because devices like modern iPhones, Laptops have Private MAC Address features.

 

If you turn this off the device will show its name properly 

This message was authored by TrebleTA This message was authored by: TrebleTA

Re: Unknown device

That's the sky hub unable to handle to many devices, why a 3ed party device is better
Sky FTTP, SR203 hub self bridged to Asus AX82U. Sky Q UHD to Samsung QE55S95BAYXXU , Sky Q Mini.
Reply

Was this discussion not helpful?

No problem. Browse or search to find help, or start a new discussion on Community.

Start a new discussion

On average, new discussions are replied to by our users within 4 hours

New Discussion