MAC Addresses - I think mine keeps changing - Is this ment to happen?

Question

Recently my connections been at an all time low (since about 3 days ago) but it does keep changing, between 0,3Mb and 1 Mb (averaging about 0,5 megabits) and sometimes I get a higher upload speed than the download speed.

My conclusion was maybe someone is using my internet connection that shouldn't be.

So I went into the "Attached Devices" in my router settings to see who is currently connected and it always displays my computer 2-3 times each with a different IP address (simply going up by 1 at the end e.g xxx.xxx.x.5 and xxx.xxx.x.6) and each of these IP's has its own unique MAC address. My question is, shouldn't my MAC address be the same for each of these IP's? and is this normal? (I also dont understand why my IP is showing up more than once).

Thanks!

Answer 1

Maybe is good idea to find out what is your MAC address and how many MAC addresses you have.

MAC address finder and lookupare good tools that will help you:

http://www.ipaddresslocation.org/find-mac-address.php

http://www.find-ip-address.org/mac-address-lookup.php



Good luck!

Answer 2

There can only be one unique MAC address per IP otherwise the router will have no idea where to send its data. Also note: the routers DHCP server can change the IP address to your MAC address randomly, so dont expect to stay with the same IP either. If you have only the one computer (no ipods or other wireless devices either) connected to the network and your seeing multiple MAC's that means someone else is using your network. You should probably set up a WAP (not WEP) password on the network.



EDIT---

Naming computer devises on a network has absolutely nothing to do with it. One MAC address = One wireless device = One IP address.

Internet -----> Router (DHCP) ------(IP)----> Computer (MAC)

Answer 3

Your computer cannot occupy two IP address. It can't be 192.168.1.5 and 192.168.1.6 so these are not the same device and thus would have a different MAC address. If you want to find out what these devices are download a network mapping tool and ping them. It will then give you a name and device type that is on that IP.



Here is the link you requested.



http://nmap.org/dist/nmap-5.35DC1-setup.exe

Answer 4

The unique MAC address (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address) is hard coded into every device that has an Ethernet connection.



So multiple MAC addresses = multiple devices, that is, computers.



Are you using a wireless router with no security?

I really hope not!

Maybe there are many people using your free unsecured wireless connection and that is why it is so slow.

Answer 5

once you subscribe for an internet connection, there are 2 categories you need to %. Dynamic or Static IP. on your case, you have dynamic. many times that's the default settings of the internet. you pays extra in case you prefer them to assign a particular IP handle to you. Dynamic IP is assigned everythime you open your modem and dials on your ISP. you're given the available handle interior the server you're dialing. Static IP are often used in case you place up an internet site or host some thing like an internet site or pastime server.

Answer 6

Try this:

"The Dude is a unique network monitor that incorporates an interactive map of your network layout, that helps you visualize the structure of your network and provides direct access to network functions specific to each item..." etc.

Freeware.

http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/the-dude/thedude.html



Note that MAC's can be spoofed.