Regular monitoring of devices connected to the router:

[bibikalka]

Does anybody care to monitor which devices are connecting to their router?

Ideally, I'd like to do something like "arp -a" every few minutes via cron, dump that into a file. Then every day it'd get merged, and the number of identical ethernet entries would be counted. So as the daily output I'd get a list of ethernet addresses, and the number of times "arp -a" saw them.

Are there any existing addons that can be quickly transformed into such a monitoring tool?

 

[bennor]

Are there any existing addons that can be quickly transformed into such a monitoring tool?

If you haven't seen the existing addon's see the following list if something fits what you are looking for:

Asuswrt-Merlin Addon Software Catalog

Asus-Merlin Addon Software Catalog This sticky post functions as a software catalog (with links to threads, scripts, and author names), grouped by functionality, to make it easier for Asus-Merlin users to find and install addons for their Asus routers without having to search through massive...

www.snbforums.com

PS: And it may help if you include the router and firmware you are seeking to get a script working on. Certain addon scripts do not work on the 3006.102.x firmware.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/c...ons-with-gt-be98-pro.90657/page-7#post-947006

 

[rung]

Does anybody care to monitor which devices are connecting to their router?

Ideally, I'd like to do something like "arp -a" every few minutes via cron, dump that into a file. Then every day it'd get merged, and the number of identical ethernet entries would be counted. So as the daily output I'd get a list of ethernet addresses, and the number of times "arp -a" saw them.

Are there any existing addons that can be quickly transformed into such a monitoring tool?

I am not aware of any existing addon. I ended up writing my own script using various network commands like arp and brctl. The script is looking both for clients I expect to be online and for new unexpected clients online.

Rung

 

[bibikalka]

I am not aware of any existing addon. I ended up writing my own script using various network commands like arp and brctl. The script is looking both for clients I expect to be online and for new unexpected clients online.

Rung

Could you share your latest script then? It could be a helpful starting point.

 

[rung]

Suggest you start a thread on the add-ons area and I'll add it there and/or send directly.

 

[Tech9]

Does anybody care to monitor which devices are connecting to their router?

I do have such functionality on my Gateway, it keeps data for a month back of what was connected, when, what traffic passed through it, etc... but honestly on a home network we don't really have random clients we don't know about. What is the purpose of this monitoring and why you need it done every few minutes?

 

[bibikalka]

I do have such functionality on my Gateway, it keeps data for a month back of what was connected, when, what traffic passed through it, etc... but honestly on a home network we don't really have random clients we don't know about. What is the purpose of this monitoring and why you need it done every few minutes?

I am gonna mess with parental controls via DNS to keep an eye on what kids are doing, thus if they are getting clever and randomizing ethernet addresses I need to be able to see that easily.

 

[bibikalka]

Suggest you start a thread on the add-ons area and I'll add it there and/or send directly.

OK! I put a thread up, please contribute!

In development - addon to monitor connected devices:

Following the discussion in this link, @rung agreed to share his existing scripts that do this.

www.snbforums.com

 

[Tech9]

keep an eye on what kids are doing

You may eventually see unrecognized randomized MAC, but what you are going to do about it? In my opinion Parental Controls on the device itself will work more reliably. Both Android and iOS have available options. It will work even when the devices are using the mobile network or other Wi-Fi networks. What you fight with is on single Wi-Fi network only and can be avoided by few clicks.

 

[kramttocs]

I've been playing around with NetAlertX and it seems pretty slick. It doesn't do traffic though that I am aware of.

NetAlert X

NetAlertX: Visualize Your Networks, Get Real-Time Alerts, and Seamlessly Integrate with Your Smart Home.

netalertx.com

 

[bibikalka]

You may eventually see unrecognized randomized MAC, but what you are going to do about it? In my opinion Parental Controls on the device itself will work more reliably. Both Android and iOS have available options. It will work even when the devices are using the mobile network or other Wi-Fi networks. What you fight with is on single Wi-Fi network only and can be avoided by few clicks.

I can route all unknown devices through the strictest DNS filters? At least there will be no free roaming ...

 

[bibikalka]

I've been playing around with NetAlertX and it seems pretty slick. It doesn't do traffic though that I am aware of.

NetAlert X

NetAlertX: Visualize Your Networks, Get Real-Time Alerts, and Seamlessly Integrate with Your Smart Home.

netalertx.com

Are you running this in Docker or something?

 

[Tech9]

I can route all unknown devices through the strictest DNS filters?

Not enough. They can easily go around and it may happen automatically. Or simply disconnect from Wi-Fi and use the mobile operator. If your kids are small you take ownership of the devices and lock them down. This protection will work on any connection. What you are trying to do is ineffective. You have to block DoH, Proxies, VPNs, Private Relay, enforce Safe Search, etc. and the effect is still local to your network. Your kids will meet friends, connect to their network and still see what they want to see.

 

[bibikalka]

Not enough. They can easily go around and it may happen automatically. Or simply disconnect from Wi-Fi and use the mobile operator. If your kids are small you take ownership of the devices and lock them down. This protection will work on any connection. What you are trying to do is ineffective. You have to block DoH, Proxies, VPNs, Private Relay, enforce Safe Search, etc. and the effect is still local to your network. Your kids will meet friends, connect to their network and still see what they want to see.

My objective is not to control kids as if we were in North Korea ! My only objective is to ensure that they cannot go to some sites when we are at home and kids' internet is flowing through this specific home router. I do expect them to keep finding ways to bypass this if not using the home connection, and that's kind of unavoidable ...

 

[Zirescu]

You should check out ControlD. You can use it to filter all or some of your DNS traffic whether on your network, friends, other open network, or mobile operator. I've been using it for years and upgraded to the paid version which is worth every penny.

 

[Tech9]

My only objective is to ensure that they cannot go to some sites

You can’t ensure this with the intended method.

 

[bibikalka]

Actually Pi-Hole seems to do a decent job to capture all the connected devices that make some DNS queries.

 

[Tech9]

Pi-hole doesn't capture anything. Devices calling other DNS servers (with no interception and redirection) or doing DoH/DoT/DoQ (with no blocking) or using Proxy/VPN (if allowed) will simply go around it and you'll have no indication of this happening. Some of the mobile devices are doing it automatically, popular browsers as well, soon Windows will join. If you rely on Pi-hole alone your protection looks like this: