Computer Hope

Internet & Networking => Networking => Topic started by: rjbinney on July 10, 2018, 11:43:10 AM

Title: Would a USB Drive Plugged Into a Router Have a MAC Address?
Post by: rjbinney on July 10, 2018, 11:43:10 AM: So I'm dealing with random phones appearing on my network (https://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php/topic,168232.0.html), but I think this is different (so I'm starting a different thread).

I plugged a thumb drive into my Netgear router (to use as a shared drive, natch).

According to the Google, to access the drive, I go to 192.168.0.5. OK, all good. It's there, files are there, everyone's happy.

I noticed in my router's MAC filtering page (which, as mentioned in the other thread, is not a listing of active connections), a device with IP 192.168.0.5, a MAC address, and its "Interface" is listed as "ITC". (All of the other devices - my laptop, printer, my wife's phone and iPad, all have an "Interface" of "802.11".

So the question is - would that MAC/ITC that's listed be my thumb drive? Or something more nefarious?

Thanks!
Title: Re: Would a USB Drive Plugged Into a Router Have a MAC Address?
Post by: Salmon Trout on July 10, 2018, 03:44:15 PM: If the MAC address is 1 hex digit (at the end) different from the router's own MAC address, I think this could be a media- sharing service that Netgear routers set up as an ITC interface.
Title: Re: Would a USB Drive Plugged Into a Router Have a MAC Address?
Post by: rjbinney on July 10, 2018, 03:47:17 PM: Good catch! (See what I did there?)

I should have noticed that.

My Cable MAC address is :30, my Device MAC address is :31, and this so-called anomaly is :34... So I'm guessing that all ticks and ties together.

Thanks!
Title: Re: Would a USB Drive Plugged Into a Router Have a MAC Address?
Post by: camerongray on July 10, 2018, 06:04:24 PM: The first portion (first 3 sections) of a MAC address indicates the vendor (manufacturer of either the device or the networking part of it) so if that's the same then they are from the same vendor. The rest of it is a serial number of sorts assigned by that vendor. You can look up the vendor for a MAC address with various tools such as https://macvendors.com/ (https://macvendors.com/) which may help. It's not 100% accurate as it'll sometimes show up as the manufacuter of the networking chipset or a lesser known name for the device's manufacturer rather than something clear like "Netgear" or "Lenovo" but it'll at least give some sort of idea.
Title: Re: Would a USB Drive Plugged Into a Router Have a MAC Address?
Post by: rjbinney on July 10, 2018, 06:21:48 PM: I had no idea. I was literally marvelling yesterday that all of my new Sonos equipment's MACs were so tightly clustered. #Explained!