how do ISP's know what router I'm using?

[mcveigh]

Recently I've had roadrunner tech support ask me things like "is you Linksys router plugged in" (been out fixing peoples networks).

is it from the MAC address? maybe SNMP messages?

 

[Mucman]

I bet it was a lucky guess 🙂

 

[dmk11]

Originally posted by: mcveigh
Recently I've had roadrunner tech support ask me things like "is you Linksys router plugged in" (been out fixing peoples networks).

is it from the MAC address? maybe SNMP messages?

you *CAN* determine it by MAC address (because each manufacturer gets assigned a particular range).. but I bet you he wasn't that smart and it was just a lucky guess.. 🙂

 

[Soybomb]

Linksys is the safe bet 😀

 

[mcveigh]

no, I had it happen at another place with a netgear router the next day! so somehow they do knkow. I was thinking the MAC address b/c link dmk11 said each manufacturer has a specific address range

 

[ktwebb]

The first six hex numbers are unique to a manufacturer. Realtek NIC's will be 00-50-BA for instance. Cisco wireless is 00-46-96 if I remember correctly. And so on. The last six are like a serial number for than Mfg's card.

 

[JackMDS]

Linksys marketing department sells almost as many as the rest of the Brands.

I would not be surprise if the ISP person just calls every Entry Level Router a Linksys.

The ISP can find if you are using a Router, and which one, but they have to make a special effort to find it and unless you give them a "Reason" it id not an info. that comes automatically.

 

[Shivatron]

Originally posted by: ktwebb
The first six hex numbers are unique to a manufacturer. Realtek NIC's will be 00-50-BA for instance. Cisco wireless is 00-46-96 if I remember correctly. And so on. The last six are like a serial number for than Mfg's card.

And that, friends, is why we use MAC address clone... 😛

 

[DeeKnow]

so how does the MAC clone thing work ?

 

[Shivatron]

Originally posted by: DeeKnow
so how does the MAC clone thing work ?

If you need to emulate the MAC address of an existing machine (for authentification or IP assignment purposes), you can usually configure the router so that it broadcasts a different MAC than default.

You can usually set this through the router's configuration webpages. In the Linksys models, it's under "Advanced Options" -> "MAC Addr Clone".

HTH!