Devices

The Devices section shows all CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) devices registered to customer accounts in ISPBills. Device registration works by binding a customer's device MAC address to their account, preventing unauthorised use of their credentials on other devices.

Accessing Devices

Navigate to Customers > Devices in the left sidebar to see a full list of all registered devices across all customers.

To view devices for a specific customer, open the customer's profile and go to the Devices tab.

What Is MAC Address Binding?

Every network device has a unique MAC address (Media Access Control address) — a hardware identifier built into the network card. By binding a customer's MAC address to their ISPBills account, you ensure that:

  • Only their registered device(s) can authenticate using their credentials.
  • If someone else obtains the customer's username and password, they cannot connect from an unregistered device.
  • The customer cannot share their credentials with multiple households or resell their connection.

This is particularly important for PPPoE customers (to prevent credential sharing) and Hotspot customers (to enable MAC-based re-authentication without requiring a login).

Devices List

The Devices page displays the following information for each registered device:

Column Description
Customer Name The customer the device is registered to.
Username The customer's PPPoE or hotspot username.
MAC Address The hardware MAC address of the registered device (format: AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF).
Device Type A label for the device (e.g., Router, Laptop, Phone).
Added By The operator who registered the device.
Added At Date and time the device was registered.

Adding a Device to a Customer Account

Method 1: From the Customer Profile

  1. Navigate to Customers and open the customer's profile.
  2. Click the Devices tab.
  3. Click Add Device.
  4. Enter the device's MAC address.
  5. Optionally, enter a device label (e.g., "Home Router", "Office Laptop").
  6. Click Save.

Method 2: Automatic Registration (Hotspot)

For hotspot customers, when a customer completes their first authentication through the captive portal, ISPBills automatically records the MAC address of their device. Subsequent connections from the same device are re-authenticated without requiring login.

Removing or Changing a Bound MAC Address

If a customer gets a new device, or their MAC address changes (e.g., due to device replacement):

  1. Navigate to Customers > Devices or open the customer's profile > Devices tab.
  2. Find the existing device entry.
  3. Click Remove to deregister the old MAC address.
  4. Add the new device using the Add Device steps above.

Removing a device does not disconnect the customer from the internet if they are currently online. The change takes effect on the next authentication attempt.

MAC Binding for PPPoE Customers

For PPPoE customers, MAC binding works at the router level. When MAC binding is enabled for a customer in ISPBills, the system pushes a RADIUS attribute that checks the calling-station-id (MAC address) during PPPoE authentication. If the MAC does not match, the connection is rejected.

This prevents:

  • Credential sharing between households
  • Resale of ISP accounts by customers

MAC Binding for Hotspot Customers

For hotspot customers, MAC binding enables seamless re-authentication:

  1. Customer registers and pays for a package on the captive portal.
  2. Their device MAC is recorded in ISPBills.
  3. Next time they connect to the same WiFi SSID, the MikroTik router sends the MAC address in the RADIUS Access-Request.
  4. ISPBills checks if the MAC has an active session and returns an Access-Accept — no login required.

All access points in a hotspot zone must use the same SSID for MAC-based re-authentication to work across locations. See Hotspot Setup for details.

Security Considerations

  • MAC addresses can be spoofed (faked) by technically proficient users. MAC binding adds a meaningful security layer but is not a substitute for strong passwords.
  • Combine MAC binding with two-factor authentication (available in Settings) for maximum account security.
  • Regularly review the Devices list and remove stale or unrecognised entries.