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Cisco Meraki Documentation

Client Details Page Overview

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The Cisco Meraki Dashboard offers network administrators the ability to monitor and manage individual network clients, which can be helpful for both administration and troubleshooting purposes. This article overviews the client details page for MR, MS and MX/Z1 networks. The client lists are all consolidated into Network-wide > Clients, which can then be filtered as shown below.

Note: Systems Manager (MDM) networks represent client information differently from Cisco Meraki networking equipment. For more information about SM, please refer to our SM documentation.

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MR Access Points

Includes a list of client details, the device's connection status and an approximate location to the AP on the Map:

 

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  • MAC Address - The MAC address of the client device in the packets sent from the device.
  • IP - Assigned IP address of the client device 
  • Hostname - Reported via Bonjour, NetBIOS or DHCP. 
  • Manufacturer - Manufacturer of the client device from the MAC address vendor prefix
  • Operating System - Windows, Mac OS X, Android, iOS, etc. This is based on how the device handles TCP handshakes and DHCP
  • History - Will take you to the event log page which will be filtered by the client's MAC address
  • Packet Capture - This will take you to the Packet Capture page and have a capture set for the wireless side of the AP set to filter by the Client's MAC address.
  • Systems mgmt - A link to the Systems Manager network the device belongs to if the agent is installed. 
  • Signal strength - The signal-to-noise ratio of the client's wireless connection if applicable.
  • Duration - How long the client has been connected to the wireless network. 
  • Access point - Which access point the client was last seen associated with.
  • SSID - The last SSID 
  • Splash authorization - Shows the client's authorization to clear the splash page. 
  • User - The username the client sent via 802.1X authentication
  • Channel - What channel the client is associated on.
  • Packets - Displays packets sent and received per session
  • Data - How much traffic the client has passed on the network in KB, MB or GB.
  • Ping Client - Initiates an ARPing to measure the packet loss and latency from the AP to the connected client. 
  • Edit details - Used to rename the device in Dashboard, apply a custom policy and add notes to the device:
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When Traffic Analysis is enabled the page also shows the device's data usage over the time period you select. Duration pertains to the length of the current session and the Usage information can be from the past 2 hours out to a month of data.

MS Access Switches

Unlike the MR and MX/Z1, the MS Client Details Page does not include the ability to edit per-device group policies, but also provides Ping and Wake client tools:
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  • MAC Address - The MAC address of this client.
  • IP - Assigned IP address of the client device.
  • Hostname - Hostname via Bonjour, Netbios or DHCP. There can be multiple if the device is using each protocol.
  • Manufacturer - Manufacturer of the client device.
  • Operating System - OS that the device is Running. This is based on how the device handles TCP handshakes and DHCP
  • User - The username the client sent via 802.1X authentication
  • History - Will take you to the event log page which will be filtered by the client's mac address in the switch's event log.
  • Ping Client - Initiates an ARPing to measure the packet loss and latency from the switch to the connected client. 
  • Packet Capture - Take a Packet Capture on the port the client is connected to.

MX Security Appliance/Z1 Teleworker Gateway

In addition to applying group policies, you can set fixed IP assignments and set specific port forwarding or 1:1 NAT rules for the client:

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If this client is a crucial system you can enable connectivity monitoring. This will send an email to all network admins if the device were to stop communicating with the MX. This is recommended only for wired clients because wireless clients frequently disconnect.

 

The MX and the MR Client details page also include the Clear Authorization tool. This tool allows you to clear splash page authorization to revoke access or for splash page testing.  This can be done via the client list under Monitor > Clients. Here you can check off multiple clients from the boxes on the left and then click the clear authorization button:

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This can also be done on an MR and MX Client details page after you have drilled down on a client.  The option will only be available if the device is authorized via a splash page:

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You can also see this information regarding the client:

  • MAC Address - The MAC address of the client device in the packets sent from the device.
  • IP - Assigned IP address of the client device 
  • Hostname - Host Name presented to us via Bonjour, Netbios or DHCP. There can be multiple if the device is using each protocol
  • User - The username the client sent via 802.1X authentication
  • Manufacturer - Manufacuture of the client device which is designated in the first half of the mac address
  • Operating System - OS that the device is Running. This is based on how the device handles TCP handshakes and DHCP
  • History - Will take you to the event log page which will be filtered by the client's mac address
  • Packet Capture - This will take you to the Packet Capture page and have a capture set for the LAN side of the MX and filter by the Client's MAC address.

Client Data vs. Client Usage

The Data sent and received numbers are updated in real time and are for the interval specified next to the 'Duration:' keyword. The data numbers grow as long as the client is connected and are reset if the client is disconnected from the network for any reason. 

The Usage sent and received numbers relate to the selected time interval next to the graph at the bottom of the page. These numbers are updated periodically with the cloud controller and are compounded between disconnects and reconnects. 

Note: Depending on the selected time interval, the Client Usage can take around 20 minutes to be compounded and displayed on Dashboard.

ICMP Echo Request (Ping) vs. ARPing

A traditional ping involves sending an ICMP Echo Request message to the IP address provided. If the client receives the message, and is not configured to block ICMP, it will reply with an ICMP Echo Reply. Once received by the original device, the ping is completed, and a round trip time (RTT) can be calculated which provides an idea of latency between the two devices. ICMP allows reachability testing between both local and remote devices, such as over the Internet or a VPN.

ARPing uses ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) to determine if a local device is on the network. All devices will reply to ARP, making this a more reliable test; however it can only be used within the same subnet.

ARPing is only performed on the Network-Wide > Monitor > Clients page details page ping tool. The PING live tool found on the Meraki device 'Tools' page does not support ARPing.

IPv6 Address log

A historical view of a client's IPv6 addresses can be located under IPv6 Address log section which makes it easy to debug issues after the client device changes its IPv6 address. In IPv6, a client interface can have multiple IPv6 addresses due to privacy addresses implementation and this may cause client IPv6 address to rotate per the client's OS implementation. IPv6 Address log section creates a history of all IPv6 addresses and the information can be exported as CSV via the Export button. The information is presented in table format and the description of the columns is below.

  • First connected at: The timestamp for when that IPv6 address was detected for this client.
  • Address: The IPv6 address that was detected on the network for the client at the specified time.
  • Type: Link-Local or Public, depending on the IPv6 address type.
  • Time Connected: How long the client was connected and using the particular IPv6 address.

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