Devices changed to "anonymous" randomly in my router

[eclipse01]

So i have many Apple devices on my network but for some reason ONLY my Ipad pro and Iphone 12 Pro were "name changed" to anonymous in my router network list. My wife and work phone (all on IOS 15) were left alone.

is this something i might have done in my settings somewhere? Bumped up my security perhaps?

 

[Samdh90]

Hey bud,

I don't that there is a setting on the iphone that would restrict the name of the device from being transmitted out. With that said, have you tried restarting your router, just to see if something got stuck in memory? I would think that the issue might be more of a glitch with the router. I remember seeing weird entries in the past on my end where they had no names at all, just blank entries. Never figured it out, I think it was just a flaw in the router OS.

 

[Rider3]

If "Private Address" is turned on in WiFi settings for that network, the router will recognize it as anonymous.

 

[Samdh90]

If "Private Address" is turned on in WiFi settings for that network, the router will recognize it as anonymous.

Are you sure? I have private address turned on and my router can still see the names just fine.

 

[eclipse01]

If "Private Address" is turned on in WiFi settings for that network, the router will recognize it as anonymous.

it is on, but then again so is my work phone but, that is seeing just fine in my router settings.

 

[Rider3]

Are you seeing this "anonymous" in active connections?
If I reset my network settings and I reconnect to my router network it automatically connects as "Private Address".
After turning "PA" off the router will show the correct name, but it will list an "anonymous" in the off-line list
on Asus router which I remove.

 

[eclipse01]

Are you seeing this "anonymous" in active connections?
If I reset my network settings and I reconnect to my router network it automatically connects as "Private Address".
After turning "PA" off the router will show the correct name, but it will list an "anonymous" in the off-line list
on Asus router which I remove.

yes, i have since changed back to an actual label, but restarting router/etc...did not kick it out of anonymous.

again, i can confirm all other Ipad's/iphones have this setting on as well.

 

[Samdh90]

yes, i have since changed back to an actual label, but restarting router/etc...did not kick it out of anonymous.

again, i can confirm all other Ipad's/iphones have this setting on as well.

What brand of router do you use? You haven't modded your router, have you(install 3rd party firmware).

 

[eclipse01]

What brand of router do you use? You haven't modded your router, have you(install 3rd party firmware).

Asus and no

 

[Rider3]

My suggestion would be to set all your Ipads/iphones to off when connecting to your home router.
Check the MAC addresses in relation to the "anonymous" and rename in router. I have read posts where having "PA" on causes some problems when connected locally.
Don't know if you have reset your network settings, but doing this also renames your device (iphones) to iphone,
don't know about Ipads.

 

[Samdh90]

I second @Rider3's suggestion about naming them in your router if it is not picking it up properly. Unfortunately, it seems to not be an uncommon thing in general, not just with apple devices. I don't use an Asus router personally but I have had to rename several things on my router so I know what the heck they are also.

 

[eclipse01]

The only reason i am questioning this to begin with is because i had them renamed at one point and they somehow switched to anonymous.

 

[Samdh90]

The only reason i am questioning this to begin with is because i had them renamed at one point and they somehow switched to anonymous.

Maybe it is a bug, hard to say. I think that possibly the private access can cause some issues because most routers bind a name to a MAC address, if that keeps changing, it can cause issues. I would not worry about it so much. Rename as needed and just keep an eye out. On a side note, iOS 15 has had a lot of little annoying bugs, could just be one of the many annoying quirks.

 

[sahni130]

I have an Asus router and "private address" was showing my new apple devices as anonymous as well. I had to turn that setting off, "forget the network", and connect again. I then went to the ASUS app and renamed them one by one.

 

[Samdh90]

Just an update guys,

I believe this is a design choice. I just checked my router when I got home from work. Unlike what some of you are stating, my phone was a blank entry on the connected device list. Same thing goes for my wife's iphone. As soon as I disabled the "Private Address" feature, my phone shows the name properly on the list. Here is what mine looks like;

Private Address On:

Private Address Off:

Thank you.