# Monitor if kids are using their smart device?
**URL:** https://discourse.nodered.org/t/monitor-if-kids-are-using-their-smart-device/2720
**Category:** General
**Created:** [31 August 2018 08:01 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/monitor-if-kids-are-using-their-smart-device/2720 "2018-08-31T08:01:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@janvda](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/janvda)
#### Post date: [4 September 2018 09:05 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/monitor-if-kids-are-using-their-smart-device/2720/22 "2018-09-04T09:05:50Z")
Hi Colin, I agree that the IP addresses might change (and most likely they do), but my comment was not about IP addresses but about MAC addresses and MAC addresses are fixed.
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### Author:  [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)
#### Post date: [4 September 2018 09:22 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/monitor-if-kids-are-using-their-smart-device/2720/23 "2018-09-04T09:22:09Z")
> [@janvda](#):
>
> my comment was not about IP addresses but about MAC addresses and MAC addresses are fixed
Oops, yes, sorry. Your observations agree with mine.
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### Author:  [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)
#### Post date: [4 September 2018 19:10 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/monitor-if-kids-are-using-their-smart-device/2720/24 "2018-09-04T19:10:12Z")
MAC addresses are not always fixed. I seem to remember this is optional on iOS. Not sure about Android. It is indeed a security feature and is very good to turn on if you regularly connect to non-trusted WiFi networks.
I run an arp scan every few minutes using a custom lookup table containing known devices and additional known manufacturer types. The first 1/2 of the MAC address is assigned to a manufacturer so even if you don't know the address, you can often work out the device.
But none of these lookups are very reliable. Good enough for casual use though.
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### Author:  [@janvda](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/janvda)
#### Post date: [4 September 2018 21:11 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/monitor-if-kids-are-using-their-smart-device/2720/25 "2018-09-04T21:11:26Z")
I think that the [fingbox](https://www.fing.io/fingbox-network-security-appliance/) device is doing something very similar. I would not be amazed that under the hood it is running the arp-scan command on a unix environment. So I would also guess that a raspberry pi could perfectly do the same things.
It is also mentioning on this [page](https://help.fing.io/knowledge-base/internet-pause/) that it is using [arp spoofing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARP_spoofing) to block users (seems like a cool - but also evil feature 😈).
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