Offline device is downloading.... how?

[AlanOfTheBerg]

I've had many experiences with the Device Manager portion of the XR1000 to know it's pretty buggy. Single IP devices showing having 2-5 IP addresses, multiple devices with the same IP address. But this one is new. In the dashboard, it shows an unnamed device is downloading. But clicking on that device shows that it is Offline. Video snapshot attached.

And the actual device that I am on, verified by seeing that the IP address in the Device Manager is the same as the IP address as the computer I am on, doesn't show as using any bandwidth at all.

This router was reset and re-set up about two weeks ago or so. Firmware is current, at least according to the "Check" firmware button. XR1000 1.0.0.58_1.0.44.

Any thoughts about what's going on here and how to fix it?

[Netduma Liam]

Unfortunately, I'm not able to view the attached video. Could you perhaps try uploading it somewhere else then provide a link?

At what speed is it showing the PC downloading? Is there any other activity on the network at them time? Does it still show the PC as downloading a lot if there's something else on the network generating a lot of traffic?

[AlanOfTheBerg]

Hmmm.. Well, I guess i should have modified it to a standard mp4 or something...  Or the forum was offended by my typo in the filename "netgeat"

The video shows the list of devices and their network activity. The unnamed device in question, downloading around 25Mbps. Total usage on the network at that time is around 28, so it's using the vast majority of the traffic. Clicking on the device on the left side of the graph, shows that device is offline. And it is not the IP address of the device which is doing the actual downloading.

When I stopped the download on the computer, the total usage/download drops to 2-3Mbps. I did not capture that in the video.

I'll try upload a copy of the video, or make a new one later today when I am back home.

Edited March 24, 2022 by AlanOfTheBerg
add humor

[Netduma Fraser]

In LAN Settings, set the DHCP range to start at .50, then assign reserved IP addresses to devices between .2 & .49 so they're out of the DHCP range, apply, reboot from the interface, wait 2 minutes and then see if the devices match up/have the correct names/stop getting more than 1 IP address. It's also possible if you've connected a device to both ethernet and wifi at some point that they may appear as two different devices and could explain what you saw.

[AlanOfTheBerg]

Here is an new screencap showing the computer I am downloading music onto still showing offline, matching IP address. I also notice other devices in the list in the "Network Snapshot" dashboard widget show as "offline" even though they have network activity. The network overview widget shows a similar bandwidth usage graph shape to the computer network traffic, so you know it's really the same device.

https://youtu.be/s47PnLHBYps

[AlanOfTheBerg]

On 3/24/2022 at 12:15 PM, Netduma Fraser said:

In LAN Settings, set the DHCP range to start at .50, then assign reserved IP addresses to devices between .2 & .49 so they're out of the DHCP range, apply, reboot from the interface, wait 2 minutes and then see if the devices match up/have the correct names/stop getting more than 1 IP address. It's also possible if you've connected a device to both ethernet and wifi at some point that they may appear as two different devices and could explain what you saw.

I'll work on this today some time. I will note that in the new video link I posted, the MAC address listed does not match any MAC on the computer I am using. And while it is set up for DHCP, it is a reserved address for this computer on the router.

[Netduma Fraser]

I think the Macbook may have the private/random MAC addresses option enabled which is likely confusing it, if you can find how to disable this I think that will help

[AlanOfTheBerg]

34 minutes ago, Netduma Fraser said:

I think the Macbook may have the private/random MAC addresses option enabled which is likely confusing it, if you can find how to disable this I think that will help

Available on iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS. But not on MacOS. And this is on ethernet, not wifi. Private address is only available for wireless connections.

[Netduma Fraser]

Are you connecting devices via different methods frequently, e.g. via 2.4/5GHz and ethernet? If so that's why they'll have different MAC addresses

[AlanOfTheBerg]

41 minutes ago, Netduma Fraser said:

Are you connecting devices via different methods frequently, e.g. via 2.4/5GHz and ethernet? If so that's why they'll have different MAC addresses

No. The laptops are almost never connected to Ethernet. Cant say 100%. But this device is a desktop and afaik has never connected via wifi. If it has, it was during initial setup, but I don’t see the wifi MAC in the device list. 

[Netduma Fraser]

Try what I mentioned about reserving IP addresses for all your devices on the router but then disable DHCP completely (make sure the MAC addresses on the device match up with the device you're reserving the IP for). Remove any offline devices from the Device Manager, reboot the router from the interface, wait 2 minutes and then see if it works as expected then.

[AlanOfTheBerg]

That’ll take some time. Got about 45 devices…

[Netduma Fraser]

That is a lot! Maybe just do the ones you're definitely experiencing it with for a test first - ones not given a reserved IP will likely lose internet while testing. Also do you have Armor enabled?

[AlanOfTheBerg]

FYI, in Device Manager, I have A LOT of devices showing offline, but when I go to delete it, the popup says the device is online. I'm deleting as many as I can.

[Netduma Fraser]

Give the router a reboot from the interface first, that should allow you to then delete the offline devices much more easily - you should have the option in the Device Manager menu  to remove all offline devices.

[AlanOfTheBerg]

OK, I've added 35+ devices to address reservations, below the DHCP range. Rebooted the router, cleared Device Manager of offline devices.

I can see that devices with a static IP are showing again in the Device Manager list. Is there a good reason why the hostname of the device, or at least the hostname set up in Address Reservation can't show in Device Manager? Having to enter the same name for the same device in two places in the router interface is clunky.

The computer I am using now, plus a couple others I have used now since the reboot, aren't showing up in the Device Manager list yet either. It's been 8+ minutes since the reboot and actively using those computers to access the internet/web. How long does it take for the device manager to register an active device?

[Netduma Fraser]

Basically, in LAN Settings it's using Netgears device classification system and the Device Manager uses ours, hence why they can be a bit different at times (we were working on making this streamlined). Unless it is necessary I would suggest just changing them in the Device Manager as you'll only really see individual devices on the DumaOS parts of the interface.

[AlanOfTheBerg]

In Device Manager I've already got one MAC address showing associated with 3 IP addresses. E0:89:7E:85:03:6C is showing associated with 3 IP addresses. E0:89:7E:85:03:6C is an AppleTV wired, wifi is not configured/not associated with any wifi. I also have several devices getting IP addresses in the updated 101+ range, so clearly i have some more assigning to do.

And the IP address 10.10.10.5 is also associated with 5C:F9:38:C4:0C:18, which is, as of now, an unknown host.

[Netduma Fraser]

I'd be interested to see if there is anything in common with the devices that are seeing this happen, for example, all Apple devices. Keep us posted, firmware shouldn't be too far away.