Device List

The Device List menu displays an overall view of the devices connected to your LAN.

Information is gathered from several sources, including DHCP leases, ARP tables, and WiFi clients.

Interface: shows the interface on which the router sees the device.

Since release 2021.3, this includes physical/logical interface name, and WiFi SSID.

• brX is a bridge representing the LAN.
• ethX is an Ethernet physical interface. This name might be used
  directly, or it might be used indirectly if a bridge/PPP/VPN connection
  is associated with the interface.
• vlanX is a virtual interface, always related to a physical interface.
  For example, in the above example, “vlan2” represents a WAN interface.
• wlX is a (main) wireless radio interface.
  • If you have Virtual Wireless set up, you may have several
    of these, depending on the number of radios in your router.
  • Virtual wireless interfaces are named as wlX.Y .

WiFi-connected devices appear under the interface name of the SSID to which they are connected.

Device names start at “0”. The first WiFi adapter might be named “wl0”. The second adapter might be “eth1”.

When virtual interfaces are created (secondary SSIDs), additional instances are created.

Media: an icon here represents the interface on which the device is connected, and its connection status.

Interface types include:

• Ethernet
• WiFi (2.4GHz)
• WiFi (5GHz)
• Cellular 3G/4G/5G ISP connection
• PPPoE connection to ISP
• Wireless client (to another router/AP)
• Wireless bridge (to another router/AP)
• PPTP client

WAN interfaces are shown with black and white inverted.

A greyed-out power icon represents a disconnected device or one that is off.

Clicking on the above icon sends a WoL (Wake-on-LAN) packet to the device to wake it up.

For this to work, the client also must support WoL. As well, WoL settings in the BIOS, network adapter and OS may need setting for it to work properly.

MAC Address: the hardware address associated with the interface.

• Clicking the MAC address opens a search to identify router vendor,
  based on device OUI (OUI).
  • The OUI is derived from the first 6 digits of its MAC address.
  • This functions only for factory-programmed MAC addresses.
  • It won't work with manually-configured MAC addresses,
    as they can be arbitrarily assigned.

• [DR] stands for the DHCP Reservation feature.
  • This forwards you to the DHCP Reservation menu
    where you can assign a reservation to the MAC address.
  • While there, checking Bound to will enable static ARP mapping
    to the MAC address. This protects against ARP spoofing.

• [BWL] forwards you to the Bandwidth Limiter menu. There, you
  can limit the bandwidth of the device with this MAC address.

• [AR] forwards you to the Access Restriction menu,
  where you can restrict the device's WAN communications.

• [WLF] forwards you to the Wireless Filter menu. There, the device's
  MAC address is prefilled and can be blocked from/allowed
  to connect via WiFi.

IP Address: displays the address linked to the client MAC address.

Unknown addresses aren't shown. This can occur briefly while authenticating, even with WiFi clients with the correct passkey.

Name: the client device's DHCP Hostname.

If no name is shown, the device got a lease from another router, or this router rebooted after the lease was given. A workaround is to add a dhcp-host reference in the dnsmasq Custom Configuration field.

For example, dhcp-host=70:EE:50:37:E8:46,myhostname

This field is also affected by the “Generate a name for DHCP clients which do not otherwise have one” parameter in DHCP/DNS/TFTP.

RSSI: shows Relative Signal Strength.

This applies only to WiFi clients connected to this router. RSSI is measured in negative numbers, where “0” is the best possible value. Thus, -53 is a stronger signal than -74.

Quality: similar to RSSI, but also considers factors like noise floor/interference.

Quality is a better signal assessment.

TX/RX Rate: the current transmit/receive link speed between router/WiFi client.

These fluctuate based on client traffic level and signal quality/distance.

Lease: displays remaining time in the DHCP lease.

Clicking this hyperlink deletes the current lease, and deauthorizes a WiFi device. This is useful when creating static IP reservations, to make connected devices refresh their previously automatically-assigned IP to a new, manually-reserved one.

Noise floor: indicates the amount of interference affecting each physical radio interface.

Noise, like RSSI, is measured in negative numbers. The best possible value is -100dBm. Any interference will increase the noise value and decrease the Quality.

If you experience a strong RSSI and a strong Noise floor, WiFi may be unusable. In these situations, the main cause is usually other WiFi gear transmitting on the same channel. Use the Wireless Survey tool to get more information.

On the 2.4GHz band, common sources of interference include:

• Bluetooth devices
• Cordless phones
• Wireless headphones
• Low-quality power supplies
• Microwave ovens

Typically, there is less interference on the 5GHz band. DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection) is a common source of interference for certain channels. The DFS function lets 5GHz WiFi use frequencies reserved for radar. Ironically, DFS was designed to reduce interference. DFS interference varies, depending on equipment location. If you suspect DFS interference, see Wikipedia's List of WLAN Channels for details.

Measure: an extra button on certain (mostly MIPS-based) devices to trigger Noise Floor measurement (interference).

For details about noise floor, see the Wireless Survey menu.

Network Discovery: (since r2021.4), scans all IP addresses in a range to populate the Device List.

If enabled, this runs for the entire web interface session. It stops when you leave the Device List menu. (Default: disabled).

Network Discovery can be set to use Linux's arping command or the traceroute command. Arping is preferred. It's faster and uses less resources. However, sometimes traceroute may yield more precise results. This is true with Apple devices.

Beside Network Discovery mode, a non-adjustable countdown timer shows how often the script runs. Basically, it reflects ARP cache aging time.

Modern WiFi devices may stay connected to the router while in sleep mode. Network Discovery will likely detect those devices, but Hostname information may not appear until they awaken.