remove mac cookie: multiple hosts with same mac

RouterOS General
1

Hello,

I have noticed this is happening mostly with iphones.

I have 2 hotspot servers on RB3011, user is added on both servers so its allowed to roam.
Sometimes for no specific reason when reconnecting to the net - the host MAC appears double in Hosts lists ( 2 different IPs as attached )

When that happens the user is kicked out and has to relogin ( as th MAC cookie is removd by hotspot )

Is this a bug?
Any ideas how to fix it from not happeneing?

Have tried all timeout / jeepalive / cookie combinations - still it happens - ANYONE CAN TELL ME HOW TO ELIMINATE THIS and KEEP USERS LOGGED IN ?


logout-iphone-troubleshoot-1-2.png
logout-iphone-troubleshoot-1-1.png
Cheers
Omi

2

It might seem as a small issue but on a large building, with 2 Valans and hotspots this is a phenomenon happening many times per day.

the result is that the user is kicked out and has to re-login,

(On some phones the login page will not appear and a restart of device might be required to get the login )

If Any of the senior members has a solution or comment

Would be appreciated.

3

Anyone has any ideas ?

4

…

5

Because of complain from hotspot customers we did look into the log this an maybe i found the cause.
Your idle timeout for the hotspot users is very long.
We had an idle timeout of 1 hour and also a 1 hr lease time for the DHCP client.
When user is idle for a long time he is not removed from the hotspot active list.
Reconnect to the networks and ask for an IP. Gets new (different) IP from the DHCP server and the hotspot detects an existing user with this mac as “active” in the hotspot.
Because of a “new” user with the same MAC as the active in the hotspot the MAC coockie gets removed.
Just make sure that the idle timeout on the hotspot is much lower as the lease time of the DHCP server.
For instance 15 minutes idle timeout and 1 hr lease time for the hotspot.
Then the inactive user is removed from the hotspot and when the user connects to the network the hotspot can use the cookie to login. There is no need for a long idle timeout.