WIFI Range Extender

[JodyGourley]

I had to add a range extender to reach everywhere in the house. I am assuming that anything connected to it is covered just like the router. I ask because under connected devices I had to add my phones name again but I could not name it Dads_Phone like I did when it was connected through the router. Do I need to connect each device through the router name it and then connect it through the extender and name it again? Then I create profiles and use the calendar with both of those names in the calendar?

Thanks
Jody

[support]

The router identifies the devices by their MAC addresses. So it should not matter whether the device is connected via an extender or directly. Is that not the case?

[JodyGourley]

It does not seem to be working. I just had to rename my phone name again. That is the third time. My wife has two devices named Moms phone. It says undefined under the IP for one of the moms phone.

[support]

@JodyGourley Are we talking about three phones: your have one, and your wife has two? Both your wife’s phones are named “Moms phone”? I think the router won’t allow you to have the same name for two different devices.

[JodyGourley]

I am sorry that is cornfusing. My wife’s phone showed up when I first setup the router, I named it Moms_phone. I bought the extender and the same phone showed up as a new device, so I had to name it again, Moms_phone. Now I have two devices showing up but she only has one phone. The MAC address it different on each of the Moms_phone. My phone did the same thing. I think the tablets did the same thing I just have not taken the time to sort it all out. I can take a snap shot of that page and send it to you. I am not sure if I should post it here with the Mac address and IP’s. I know that the mac addresses did not change, I really can not explain it. I have just put the pcwrt router in front of the Belkin we have. So now I am also dealing with my sons issues of blocking some of the stuff that he used to get to. 🙂

[support]

So Belkin is the extender, right? When you connect a phone directly to pcWRT, it shows one MAC address. But when you connect the same device to the Belkin, pcWRT shows a different MAC address. Am I understanding it correctly?

Here are some questions to help us understand it further:
1. Every time you connect through the Belkin, does the phone’s MAC address remain the same?
2. Do you see the MAC address for the Belkin in pcWRT status page? Is it the same as your phone as it connects through the Belkin?
3. If you connect two different devices through the Belkin, do they have the same MAC address or different MAC addresses?

Please don’t post your screenshots with MAC & IP addresses here. You can send them to [email protected] if you wish. Thanks!

[support]

Update: the Belkin “mangles” the MAC address of the device when the device is connected through the Belkin. Instead of sending the true MAC address of the device to the router, it sends a MAC address made up of the first three digits of the extender MAC plus the last three digits of the device MAC.

For now, you have to give each device two names: one for connecting directly, one for connecting through the extender. But when you assign devices to profiles in parental control, always assign the two names to the same profile (i.e., treat the two names as one).

[support]

In version v1.25, we added the ability to map two MAC addresses to one host name. A device may be initially identified as two devices – one when connected directly, another when connected via the WiFi extender. But now you can assign the same name to both. As a result, you only need to manage one name in parental control settings.

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