Question: I have a home network consisting of a router plus a wireless range extender (repeater), and I cannot reliably identify to which of them my laptop is connecting (both are in range).

I tried using `arp -n` from the laptop, but it always returns the Ethernet address of the router, even when I'm connecting via the range extender (it is easy to notice the difference, since the connection goes from 0.2 MBps to 10 MBps).

I tried setting the BSSID in the (Mate) network manager of my laptop to the MAC address of the range extender, but the connection often slows down to a point in which it seems the laptop is connecting directly to the router, so I'd like to confirm if this is the case.

Answer: 
Use `iw *dev* link` to see the Wi-Fi link information:

```

$ **iw wlan0 link**
Connected to **24:a4:3d:9e:a2:16** (on wlan0)
        SSID: Home
        freq: 2462
        RX: 912692438 bytes (1247502 packets)
        TX: 77739414 bytes (744392 packets)
        **signal: -37 dBm
 tx bitrate: 65.0 MBit/s MCS 7**

        bss flags:      short-preamble short-slot-time
        dtim period:    1
        beacon int:     100

```

Somewhat more verbose information can be shown using `iw *dev* station dump`:

```

$ **iw wlan0 station dump**
Station **b8:d3:41:f1:5a:83** (on wlan0)
        inactive time:  186 ms
        rx bytes:       2697906
        rx packets:     12566
        tx bytes:       698344
        tx packets:     3350
        tx retries:     480
        tx failed:      0
        **signal: -51 [-51] dBm
 signal avg: -49 [-49] dBm
 tx bitrate: 150.0 MBit/s MCS 7 40MHz short GI
 rx bitrate: 150.0 MBit/s MCS 7 40MHz short GI
 expected throughput: 47.350Mbps**
        authorized:     yes
        authenticated:  yes
        preamble:       long
        WMM/WME:        yes
        MFP:            no
        TDLS peer:      no

```

---

For certain older drivers that only support WEXT but not nl80211, use the `iwconfig *dev*` command:

```

$ **iwconfig wlan0**
wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"Home"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: **D8:A3:83:F1:58:80**
          **Bit Rate=150 Mb/s**   Tx-Power=15 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=45/70  **Signal level=-65 dBm**
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:149   Missed beacon:0

```
I think your question is incomplete. The answer to your question is that you are connecting to the router, that is why the mac address of the router shows on your station. The range extender likely acts as a transparent bridge and does not have a mac address.

Try to include more specific info in your questions, when you say "I tried using arp -n", it is important to know if you are running the command on the workstation or the router. Very different results may be returned. Also, the type of OS and often brand of router can be very helpful. In some circumstances, adding and "a" to the arp command can help:

arp -na <-- On linux and some routers.