Why are Vumatel ONT's MAC Locked?

[Totempole]

In the bigger scheme of things this is not a huge issue due to address cloning, but do any other provider's CPE's Lock to the first MAC address that gets linked?

Why do they insist on doing this? Would it pose a huge security risk by allowing the end user to independently switch between devices with different MAC addresses?

 

[Sinbad]

They're not locked as such, but a single DHCP IP address is allocated to the device connected to the ONT and this is not released - which is why you can't use another device without manual intervention from Vuma or the ISP.

 

[websquadza]

Vumatel does not us MAC locking on their trenched netwotk per se. The network uses DHCP to allocate service provider IPs to endpoints (routers). A single IP address is allocated per object. Like any DHCP, an allocation is bound to a MAC in the DHCP table. Rebooting the CPE or waiting it out usually releases this and allows for another device to receive the IP.

 

[Sinbad]

Vumatel does not us MAC locking on their trenched netwotk per se. The network uses DHCP to allocate service provider IPs to endpoints (routers). A single IP address is allocated per object. Like any DHCP, an allocation is bound to a MAC in the DHCP table. Rebooting the CPE or waiting it out usually releases this and allows for another device to receive the IP.

Rebooting does not release it, and it does not time out either. These leases are _LONG_

 

[websquadza]

Rebooting does not release it, and it does not time out either. These leases are _LONG_

Yup, the lease options are 7-30 days on the backend system (but it's sticky, so renews). But we've seen with a few clients now that a reboot seems to work. CPE will report both MACs, but the active device will get an IP. And getting a technical explanation from Vumatel is impossible.

 

[Rickster]

Rebooting does not release it, and it does not time out either. These leases are _LONG_

It was fine for me, used my Afrihost provided router for a few months then made it a switch and bought another one as the main router, plugged it in and it worked. I might have left the CPE off for ~20min.

I didnt have to call or log a ticket with anyone.

 

[Totempole]

Thanks to everyone for your input. This definitely sheds a lot of light on why devices can't be switched on the fly, and also why the Public IP address almost never changes on their network.