Was looking at my Netgear’s router status page where it shows each device’s MAC address, IP address and device name. Of the five devices it shows the proper IP address, MAC address, and al but one has a good device name. The Linux system (SuSE 12.3) has a device name of “unknown”. Is there a way how to have the Linux system have a device name?
Thanks!
For your reference, have a look at
cat /etc/HOSTNAME
Mine is
linux-akl.site
The router I’m currently connected to reports
|Hostname|MAC Address|IP Address|Expires In|
|---|---|---|---|
||C4:2C:03:12:77:1E|192.168.1.2|Expired|
|linux-akl|00:21:00:03:C4:8C|192.168.1.4|23 hours, 45 minutes, 3 seconds|
I suspect that your Linux system isn’t a device as far as the router is concerned and that the MAC address it is using will belong to your Ethernet or Wireless adapter each of which will have a different MAC address. So the ‘unknown’ probably refers to your adapter rather than your Linux system.
Is your network using “NetworkManager” or “ifup” scripting?
If it is using “ifup”, try switching to “dhclient” in place of “dhcpcd”. If you are using “NetworkManager”, then that won’t help because you are already using “dhclient”.
There are different ways of communicating hostname info, and some routers can only handle the method used by “windows”.
I have a Netgear router, WGR614, and it does not show the device name for my wirelessly connected laptop. I am using network manager.
On my desktop, using an Asus router and ifup, the device name does show properly. However, my nook and my blu-ray player do not show a device name. I expect they do not have one.
I know, that’s no help, just informational.
Bart
On 2013-10-05 01:46, nrickert wrote:
> There are different ways of communicating hostname info, and some
> routers can only handle the method used by “windows”.
It could be the samba name.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4, with Evergreen, x86_64 “Celadon” (Minas Tirith))
[QUOTE=robin_listas;2589447]On 2013-10-05 01:46, nrickert wrote:
> There are different ways of communicating hostname info, and some
> routers can only handle the method used by “windows”.
It could be the samba name.
Well I know it is not a SAMBA name nor what is in the HOSTFILE. I did put a name in the DHCP Client identifier. So I’ll see if that makes a difference.
Using ifup so I’m not going to try changing it to something else at this time.
Thanks all!
Hi svetter88 ! Here is my 2 cent,
I own a Netgear WNR3500Lv2 and I know from small experiments I made that it uses in its status page as “device name” the hostname the DHCP client of the device provided.
I just checked by manually changing the hostname send by DHCP with the following command:
# dhclient -H superman
And, after actualizing the status page of the router, I could see my super hero in my network.
Note that DNS doesn’t seem to be updated from DHCP on my router, so name resolving between devices is broadcast based (SMB or MDNS).
I hope Netgear implementation doesn’t change a lot between their routers and that it may helps you.
Good luck!
On 2013-10-12 21:06, kalten wrote:
> I hope Netgear implementation doesn’t change a lot between their routers
> and that it may helps you.
Where I am right now, there is a “Netgear genie” and I don’t see any
names. Or O don’t know which screen should display them.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4, with Evergreen, x86_64 “Celadon” (Minas Tirith))
On the Netgear Genie version of my router, I see device names here:
http://paste.opensuse.org/images/62417399.png
Note: this screenshot will be available 1 week from the date of this post.
On 2013-10-13 05:06, kalten wrote:
>
> robin_listas Wrote:
>>
>> Where I am right now, there is a “Netgear genie” and I don’t see any
>> names. Or O don’t know which screen should display them.
>>
>
> On the Netgear Genie version of my router, I see device names here:
>
> [image: http://paste.opensuse.org/images/62417399.png]
> Note: this screenshot will be available 1 week from the date of this
> post.
I see… the same screen in mine is a bit different:
It simply does not shows that info. Or so I wrongly thought…
I then run your command:
minas-tirith:~ # dhclient -H Minas-Tirith
minas-tirith:~ #
and reloaded the router page:
So curiosity solved, thanks 
What remains is to find out how to configure network settings somehow so
that this information is pushed automatically to the router.
See:
/etc/dhclient.conf:
# Note, that hostname is usually send using -H option.
#send host-name "andare.fugue.com";
I have edited that, so I’ll see if it works, in half an hour time (lease
time). Dunno if network manager reads that file :-?
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4, with Evergreen, x86_64 “Celadon” (Minas Tirith))
On 2013-10-13 14:18, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> See:
>
> /etc/dhclient.conf:
>
>
> # Note, that hostname is usually send using -H option.
> #send host-name "andare.fugue.com";
>
>
> I have edited that, so I’ll see if it works, in half an hour time (lease
> time). Dunno if network manager reads that file
No, that does not work.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4, with Evergreen, x86_64 “Celadon” (Minas Tirith))
I’m using NM (KDE4.10, openSUSE 12.2), and my hostname is sent automatically. An examination of /var/run/nm-dhclient-wlan0.conf shows that it is set by the network manager
# Created by NetworkManager
# Merged from /etc/dhclient.conf
#
# /etc/dhclient.conf -- dhclient configuration file
# See "man dhclient.conf" for further details
#
.
.
.
.#require subnet-mask, domain-name-servers;
timeout 60;
retry 60;
reboot 10;
select-timeout 5;
initial-interval 2;
send host-name "linux-akl"; # added by NetworkManager
.
.
On 2013-10-13 22:26, deano ferrari wrote:
>
> I’m using NM (KDE4.10, openSUSE 12.2), and my hostname is sent
> automatically. An examination of /var/run/nm-dhclient-wlan0.conf shows
> that it is set by the network manager
I was using the gnome version of network manager. I can not test that
again, I am on a different location now.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 12.3 x86_64 “Dartmouth” at Telcontar)