Duplicate devices

[Jonathanzachary]

Hi. 

I use google nest for my family. I am having a recurring issue where some devices are appearing multiple times.   I am unable to delete or remove these duplicate devices. 

This means i cannot create functional groups to restrict kids access to internet.

I rebuilt (factory reset) network and that fixed the problem initially.  But the devices kept multiplying soon after.

How do i prevent device multiplication or delete / remove devices?

[MichaelP · Accepted solution]

Hello @Jonathanzachary 

It sounds like those devices may have some form of MAC address randomization, also known as "Private Wi-Fi Address" turned on. This is increasingly common, especially for things like iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. macOS supports this as well, and Windows may even support something like this, too. What it does is generate a new identifier (MAC address) for the device periodically.

Unfortunately, this is a client-side configuration. So, you will need to change it on each client device in question. Worse yet, if your children know how this works, there may not be a way to stop them from turning it back on to get around your network policy. In that case, you might consider using tools like Apple's Screen Time and Microsoft's Family to control things from the client side instead of the network.

[Jonathanzachary]

That's what it sounds like to me as well.  I will try and fix it.   Cheers