how to see mac address in bandwidth distribution table??

[borealcat]

Hi there, wishing to track down where internet usage is by device. For some reason, sometimes a device is identified by its device name, other times by IP address. And since I believe IP address can change depending on what is assigned by the DHCP router, there may be more than one IP address for the device. The mac address would be a consistent positive identifier. Is there any means to have this displayed in bandwidth distribution table, the way it is in "connected hosts"?

[Lantis]

The general idea is that you assign fixed IPs on the DHCP page to any device of interest.
This will mean it always has the same IP, and the added benefit of the hostname being populated.

Most features of Gargoyle are assigned by IP, not MAC.

[borealcat]

Thank you Lantis! And static DHCP would only apply to device when it is on this LAN? ie if device used on another network, new DHCP would be applied by that network?

[ispyisail]

Thank you Lantis! And static DHCP would only apply to device when it is on this LAN? ie if device used on another network, new DHCP would be applied by that network?

From my understanding Eric has done some clever coding in the gargoyle DHCP sever. The IP address is generated by the MAC address, so when I move between gargoyle routers the IP address stays the same.

I have no reference for the above statement, just personal experience.

No doubt Lantis will tell me if I'm wrong or right

[Lantis]

Correct that each network applies it's own static leases (if it chooses to).

Devices that are not governed by a static lease internally calculate (based on their MAC) the DHCP address they would prefer, and they ask the DHCP server for this. The server can accept, or refuse (already taken, outside dynamic range, static leases in effect etc).

Devices tend to get "sticky" with addresses. Once they have them, they don't like to give them up unless someone tells them to. Typically this is the DHCP server at the half life of lease time when the client asks "Is it ok if I keep this address?"
The server can again accept or refuse at this stage.

[borealcat]

Thanks. I will need to do a little home work and assign IP's to devices. It is amazing how many devices are in a home these days. Thanks all for help and insights.