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Eero and iOS 14 private Wi-Fi MAC

Hi 
I just bought the eero pro recently and what sold me was the content filtering and profiles so I could restrict access and adult context for the kids devices. Until iOS 14 came along. With the new private WI-FI setting in iOS 14 (which assigns a new MAC address each time an iPhone is logged in) a new device appears on the network. So if I assign a current device to a profile all the kid has to do get more access time is to log off and relog onto the network because the new network thinks it’s a completely new device. This can be hard to monitor during the evening. To get around this I enabled the guest network and changed the main network password and only gave them access to the guest network and I would turn it off the guest network when I go to bed. The issue with that is guest devices cannot be added to a profile so the devices can’t be content filtered.

Anyone have any advice how I can manage content filtering (adult, violence etc) using eero secure profiles and also restrict access times with this new iOS 14 feature (private wifi address) 

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  • This seems like a potentially painful issue I hadn't considered until now. My oldest just updated his iPod Touch to iOS 14 and the device is already outside of his scheduled downtimes and content filters because of the MAC randomization.

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    • jcheshire Android allows you to turn it and use the devices' mac address.

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  • iOS 14 allows a user to disable private WiFi addresses on a per-network basis. I just turned it off for my home network and that appears to have taken care of the issue in Eero.

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  • aware of it being able to be switched off but savvy kids can switch it back on which means which will by pass parental controls and access schedules which was a selling point for the eero. Which means once the parents go to bed lol.......

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    • mc1111 Sounds like an Apple problem.

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      • mc1111
      • mc1111
      • 2 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      txgunlover  to be honest it’s more of a parent problem 😂 and maybe taking away devices from kids if they break the rules. In all seriousness nothing to do with Apple 

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      • astrokid
      • astrokid
      • 2 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      mc1111 If you don't use an iOS method to block your kids from changing the setting themselves, you could get yourself a FingBox and use that security appliance to block all Mac addresses from joining your home network, by default, & accept all the Mac addresses of the devices in your home that you specifically set as allowed.

      This is my setup and once I move our devices to iOS 14, I plan to turn this setting off for our home network on each iOS 14 device, and since our FingBox blocks all but known/allowed Mac addresses, if a family member were to turn the Mac address randomizer setting back on, they'd immediately register as an unknow Mac address and immediately get blocked/kicked off our network.  They can only turn the setting back off to get back on the network again.

      I do not have any involvement with Fing, but I own 3 x Erro 2nd Gen Pro's + a FingBox and it's suited my needs perfectly.

      https://www.fing.com/news/private-mac-address-on-ios-14

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    • astrokid My oldest just updated his iPod Touch to iOS 14 and the device is already outside of his scheduled downtimes and content filters because of the MAC randomization.

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  • This should be REALLY easy for eero to fix: simply allow the eero to automatically assign all "new" devices to a default Profile (parents could select Filtered). Voila.

    Like 3
  • I am not more than 15 minutes into unboxing and already searching for a way to "deny all" on this device unless they have a profile.  This is a very common network control methodology\permission setting.  The filter\parental controls have -ZERO- value if a simple mac roll negates everything.  This will be going back. 

    Like 3
  • Very informative and useful article for beginners!

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  • I added a separate router to my eero setup via Ethernet cable to one of my  eero's. it shows up in the app as a new device.  Added it to its own profile. That router is the only router my kids have the password too. Just like any other device that has a profile you can do all the normal Pause, Schedule, Filter. a bit of a hack but works great..

    Like 2
  • Eero and other similar mesh network Wi-Fi systems cannot manually change between the 2.4 and 5 GHz frequencies. If you want to be able to switch manually between the two frequencies or if you have a lot of 2.4 GHz-only devices, a selectable dual-band router may be a better choice for you than an Eero route.

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  • The eero app is available for download in the Apple App Store and Google Play. Open up the App Store or Google Play link on your mobile phone and search for 'eero' to locate the app.

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  • Is android allows you to turn it to mac address? 

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  • Open the Settings app, then tap Wi-Fi. Tap the information button next to a network. Tap to turn Private Address on or off.

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  • You all realize don't you that if your child has a phone they don't need WiFi at all because, obviously, it's a phone.  You need to do your kids content filtering in the phone not in your network.

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