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I have an Apple M1 MacBook Pro running Ventura. I have an anti virus software and prior to today, the software used my computer’s host name (____’s Macbook Pro.) to display my device’s name, but today it randomly changed to a DCHP number (dhcp- followed by 11 numbers displayed like this: xx-xxx-xxx-xxx). I tried looking through my MacBook’s network settings to try to identify this number, but it is nowhere to be found.

Any guidance on where this number came from and why I can’t find it in the settings would be greatly appreciated!

J_O
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  • Are you saying that the anti-virus software is displaying the name as dhcp-...? If so, what anti-virus software? Or is it everywhere? Is your MBP getting the normal IP address from your DHCP server (your home router?)? – Gilby Apr 02 '23 at 06:24
  • It's probably not coming from your computer, it's coming from the local DNS server (and your Mac is treating the DNS server as authoritative). And it's not a real problem, just confusing. See my answer to a similar question here, and also this question. – Gordon Davisson Apr 02 '23 at 08:52

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This is very typical and usually happens when your ISP has their equipment setup to give out a hostname like the one you have described.

So this actually has nothing to do with DHCP itself - i.e. the name "dhcp-xx-xxx-xxx-xxx" is not part of the DHCP protocol, nor is it a "DHCP number". It is merely an arbitrary choice on the part of your ISP to choose a naming scheme, and they when with "dhcp-" followed by what is most probably the IP address assigned to your device.

jksoegaard
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  • Thank you for your response. As a follow up, the numbers after dhcp- do not seem to resemble the IP address assigned to my device. I’m not sure if that changes anything. – J_O Apr 02 '23 at 14:28
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    Not really, no. The numbers do not have to match your IP address. It can be an external IP address that your internal IP address is NAT'ed to, it can be an ISP internal IP address that you're 1:1 mapped to, or indeed it could be any random identifier your ISP uses for internal reference. Many ISPs use IP addresses in some form. – jksoegaard Apr 02 '23 at 20:07
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Is "dhcp-xx-xxx-xxx-xxx" showing up as your computer's name in only the anti-virus program or MacOS too? A few places to check:

  • System Settings -> General -> About -> Name
  • System Settings -> General -> Sharing -> Local hostname
  • In the Terminal app, type "uname -n". (type "exit" to close the terminal session.)

Does the number resemble your Mac's IP address? To find it:

  • System Setting -> Network -> (your connection type, like Wi-Fi) -> Details -> IP address
  • In Terminal type "ifconfig -a | grep inet.*netmask".
Jason S
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    This is a Q&A site, so posting follow-up questions as answers doesn't work very well. The points mentioned may be useful to diagnose issues here, but the "what next" part seems to be missing. So, can you please edit your post to add the steps to be taken in case the answer to the two questions is "yes"? – nohillside Apr 02 '23 at 08:44