Hotspot devices

[vetoes]

I only provided hotspot to my own MacBook but instead of my device being listed I have bunch of weird entries. Why does it happens? I sometimes use VPN, might that be a reason?

 

[jav6454]

Do you have a password for your hotspot?

 

[vetoes]

Do you have a password for your hotspot?

Yes I do. All of Apple devices can use hotspot automatically via Apple ID. I just click on my WiFi menu on my Mac and choose my phone. I don't need to give my password in that case.

Sometimes when I connected to hotspot I have VPN turned on, either on Mac or iPhone. I was thinking maybe that is reason why.

 

[jav6454]

Yes I do. All of Apple devices can use hotspot automatically via Apple ID. I just click on my WiFi menu on my Mac and choose my phone. I don't need to give my password in that case.

Sometimes when I connected to hotspot I have VPN turned on, either on Mac or iPhone. I was thinking maybe that is reason why.

So you turned on hotspot and all your devices connected at once? I’m a bit lost here.

 

[vetoes]

So you turned on hotspot and all your devices connected at once? I’m a bit lost here.

In Settings > Mobile data > Personal hotspot you can see which device has used how much data. If you used only one device you should have have only one entry. If you see my screenshot I have bunch of random entries.

 

[svenmany]

I just tried using my phone as a mobile hotspot and see no such entries. I looked for them because I wanted to see which MAC addresses are appearing there. Are they the addresses of the computer that is connecting to the hotspot or the addresses of the hotspot itself?

In any case, the iPhone has the ability to randomly generate MAC addresses. The setting is called "Private Wi-Fi Address". If you have that turned on, then you might be seeing these separate entries for each randomly generated MAC address.

 

[svenmany]

Come to think of it, the VPN might also be generating random MAC addresses.

Could you tell me where to look to see those entries? I can experiment since I also have VPN software.

--edit--

I see no "Mobile data" in settings.

 

[vetoes]

Come to think of it, the VPN might also be generating random MAC addresses.

Could you tell me where to look to see those entries? I can experiment since I also have VPN software.

--edit--

I see no "Mobile data" in settings.

It depends on what version of English are you using. Settings > Mobile/cellular data > Personal hotspot.

 

[svenmany]

It depends on what version of English are you using. Settings > Mobile/cellular data > Personal hotspot.

Thanks. I see

Settings > Cellular > Personal Hotspot

Settings > Personal Hotspot

Neither lists data usage.

I use Private Internet Access on my Windows machine. That does provide a unique MAC address. However, after rebooting the address remained the same.

Sorry I couldn't add any value.

 

[vetoes]

Thanks. I see

Settings > Cellular > Personal Hotspot

Settings > Personal Hotspot

Neither lists data usage.

I use Private Internet Access on my Windows machine. That does provide a unique MAC address. However, after rebooting the address remained the same.

Sorry I couldn't add any value.

You have my thanks anyway.