New Poster
•
4 Messages
Why is a device that has been paused still able to access internet?
My kids devices are all paused during the day so they can focus on their school work (via school devices which are not paused). So why is my daughters personal chromebook still able to access the internet?? The app says it's paused, but she has no issues accessing Roblox!!
XfinityJoeTru
Official Employee
•
7K Messages
4 years ago
Hello whatstheissue. Welcome to the Xfinity Forums and thanks for creating your post. Typically this happens because the computer has connected to a new WiFi hotspot network. Many of our xFi Gateway modems broadcast 'xfinitywifi' hotspot signal to allow outside your home network connections. When she is able to stay connected, have you been able to verify which SSID network she is connected to?
0
0
whatstheissue
New Poster
•
4 Messages
4 years ago
I have completely turned off Xfinitywifi for this very reason. But I have also confirmed that she is connected to the home wifi. I have even disconnected the device, removed it from the network (i.e. forget this device) then connected AGAIN. I put the device on pause, and it can still access the internet. Note: This is an iPhone 7. I have another iPhone 7 connected to my network, and I have no idea what device this is. I cannot disconnect it, or forget it because I don't know what device this is. My daughters iPhone 7 and this mysterious iPhone 7 have different MAC addresses, so they must be different devices. I now have two issues:
1. I can't pause my daughters device
2. I have no idea who this second device belongs to, and even though it's paused, I have no way of knowing if it's actually connected or not (for the reason stated above).
These issues need to be resolved ASAP! I can't keep my network secure, or my kids safe if I can't control these device. Please help!!!!
0
0
whatstheissue
New Poster
•
4 Messages
4 years ago
Hello, I believe I found the solution to my problem (for the iPhone anyway, I'll still have to look into the Chromebook). It seems iOS14 has a feature called "MAC Address Randomization" which will switch up the devices MAC address after it connects to the network. This must be confusing the network settings, if they're using MAC to track devices. I was able to turn this feature off on the iPhone, and it now looks like the phone is paused when it's supposed to be paused! Hopefully she doesn't figure this out...but Xfinity will need a solution for this in the future.
Below link is how I discovered this and learned how to turn it off:
https://blog.elevensoftware.com/how-mac-address-randomization-can-affect-the-wifi-experience#:~:text=MAC%20addresses%20are%20usually%20assigned,from%20one%20network%20to%20another.
3