My smartphone MAC address has changed

[Patricia55]

I changed from EE PAYG to an EE monthly package in mid-August, which went fine. Whilst I was discussing this with the agent, she persuaded me to change my Landline/Broadband provider from ten years with TalkTalk (TT) to now using EE, promising I would get just as good equipment and service with EE as I have done with TT. That all took place on 31/08/23 and, within the first two days, I realised I'd made a very big mistake.

Apart from the mounting grievances I've been dealing with since that date (including no longer being able to access My EE on my smartphone, but could still access it via my PC), I discovered that my smartphone MAC address had completely changed from the one I had whilst using the TT router, yet all my other device MAC addresses remained the same.

After being given a link by a helper in the EE forum for "MAC Address Lookup", I checked it out earlier today with both the TT and EE MAC addresses........very interesting. The TT one showed the origin, etc, of my smartphone, whereas the EE one showed this >>>

Info

No assignment is found for this MAC: (address numbers).

MAC Address more info

Locally administered addresses (LAA): the address is assigned to a device by a network administrator, overriding the burned-in address.

Note
It's also be a randomized MAC. Media Access Control (MAC) address randomization is a privacy technique whereby mobile devices rotate through random hardware addresses in order to prevent observers from singling out their traffic or physical location from other nearby devices.

Type of transmission: Unicast <<<

Can anyone here explain this for me, please, preferably without any heavy technical jargon because it's double Dutch to me? I didn't know that a MAC address could be changed, nor do I understand why it should be, or through which source. Did EE or OR implement this? If so, how and why?

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I would greatly appreciate any comeback to my query, no matter what ideas or knowledge anyone has.

[XRaySpeX]

If you click on your phone's entry in the list on Advanced Settings > My Network does the expanded info page say anything about changing the MAC addy?

[Patricia55]

Now you're asking! As I'm new to using a smartphone, I'm still learning my way around it, but..........................
Oh, hang on, I think you might mean if I look into the Route Manager from PC? I'll go and check it.

[Patricia55]

Not that I can see. It just shows the MAC address/Wireless/DHCP/etc.

[XRaySpeX]

Yes, I'm talking about on the router not the phone.

Is your smartphone by any chance an iPhone on iOS14 or above? If so, is it the only device that shows a wrong MAC in the router. Do other devices like your PC show correct MACs?

[Patricia55]

No, it's a Nokia smartphone running on Android 10. I bought it about two years ago on just PAYG with the intention of learning how to use it, but never got around to trying it out until now. I updated to a monthly package a few weeks ago.

[XRaySpeX]

& what about the MACs of other devices?

[Patricia55]

Sorry, I forgot to answer your other question about the MAC addresses of the other devices.
Yes, as I'd already stated, they're all the original ones.

[XRaySpeX · Accepted solution]

@Patricia55 : Ah, yes, so you did.

It's not the router but your Nokia phone doing this. With Android 10 they introduced "private" or randomized MAC addys to networks. These security updates are put in place to prevent people from being tracked as they move through different public networks and it is safe for your home network to turn off.

Please do the following on your phone:

Android - disabling randomized MAC address

1. Open the Android Settings app
2. Tap 'Network & Internet"
3. Tap "Wi-Fi"
4. Tap the gear icon associated with the wireless connection to be configured
5. Tap "Advanced"
6. Tap "Privacy"
7. Tap "Use Device MAC "  

---

& you will see your phone's true MAC on the router.

See also Issues with random MAC addresses (Android 10 & iOS 14 or later) 

[Mustrum]

Hey @Patricia55   sorry tried to reply earlier but the ghost fairy anonymously moved your thread to another section.

so no definitive answer on this one from me, but I will use the if it is not broke one again!! 😎

One of the many reasons I use my own routers, and not a BT based one is the lack of consistent and useful to me information. Your answer may be as simple as the TT router was reporting your phone MAC address, the EE one the 2.4 Wi-Fi  interface on the phone. Also you don't say what phone, don't know about Android but am sure they will be similar to Apple and they try all sorts to anonymise connections and the information they give out.

But the bottom line - do you have a specific concern or worry about the service?  Or just more learning.

HTH

[Patricia55]

Aha! Now I know. Thank you very much for doing that, XRaySpeX!
Does it matter whether the true MAC address shows on the router manager, or should I just leave it as it is now?
Either way, I'll certainly look into all the information you've given me........but tomorrow, as I'm very tired now and need to rest.

I appreciate your efforts in finding out the reasons behind this mystery, and for solving a puzzle which would have eluded me forever. I'll check it all out tomorrow and let you know the outcome. Thanks again, Pat.