The same phone or computer may appear with different MAC addresses. Inventories that do not take into account the use of addresses for privacy purposes may unnecessarily increase the number of devices.
Basic approach
Supported Wi-Fi clients can use arbitrary hardware addresses on networks. This behavior depends on the operating system, hardware, and network setting. The manufacturer's estimate via the MAC prefix may also lose reliability in this case; Leaving the manufacturer field blank may be the right choice.
Application steps
- Verify from managed inventory whether the MAC change is associated with the same user device.
- Use individual fields together, such as device name, management ID, and observation time.
- If you are unsure of the match, keep the records in a status that requires review rather than automatically merging them.
Practical example
Two MACs do not mean two physical devices if a laptop uses different addresses on the home network and the office network. Conversely, the same appearing device name does not prove that two records belong to the same hardware.
Interpret the result correctly
To facilitate the inventory, it is not mandatory to turn off the privacy feature for all users. Choose the method appropriate to the identity and access design of the managed network. Do not consider MAC address alone as a means of strong authentication or permanent user tracking.
Source and follow-up reading
Protocol or command details: Microsoft Support — Wi-Fi and random hardware addresses. The steps and example scenario are IPScans editorial narrative.