When a Circle device is first set up on your home Wi-Fi, the list of devices that show up in the Circle app can be a bit daunting.
Sometimes, those names are easy to understand, like "Patricks-Macbook-Pro" in the example screenshot below. Other times, the names may be confusing or unclear, like "android-42146abc00d,, and this can make it difficult to assign devices to the correct profiles.
To help, we've provided some tips and tricks that you can use below. For Circle with Disney users, we have an interactive walkthrough at the bottom of the article to help with some of the more difficult aspects of the 1st generation process.
Common ways to identify which device is which on your network
You can access a device's details by opening your Circle app and going to Menu >> Devices and selecting any device in the list. Each device has a collection of details that you can use to sort out which device it is.
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Check the device name. Some are clear enough to let you know what they are right off the bat.
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Use the device model and type details (Circle Home Plus only). Each device that is discovered is compared with our list of known device types. Circle adds those details to your devices list, as well as to the settings screen for each individual device, as shown below.
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Look for the manufacturer's name. Some devices may have a name like "Microsoft Device," and you can use the manufacturer's name to figure out where it might belong.
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Remove and re-add Apple devices to your network. Some Apple products will show up at first as "Apple Device," and it may take a while for Circle to discover it's proper name. To accelerate the process, we recommend that you turn Airplane Mode ON and then OFF on your Apple device, then swipe down on your device list to refresh the listings.
Using the MyCircle page to identify devices (Circle with Disney only)
To help you find the name for each device in your home, we have built a card into the MyCircle experience to help you out. Here's how to use it.
- After pairing your Circle device, open up a web browser on the device you don't know the name for, and go to mycircle.meetcircle.com.
- Tap the circular icon or picture at the top right of the MyCircle screen to show or hide the Device Name dashboard card.
- Open up your Circle app and tap the device icon at the top right of the home screen to bring up the device list.
- Find the proper device in the list, and select that device to reassign it to the proper family member. You may also rename that device if you like.
Using a device's MAC address to identify it
You can also match the unique network identifier (or, "MAC Address") for your devices with the MAC address found in each of your device list entries. Here is how to do this:
- Identify a device in your home that you would like to find the MAC address for.
- Access a support resource for that device that will help you identify the MAC. Typically, an Internet search of "MAC address" + the type of device will yield the results that you need. (Also check out our article on How Do I Find My Device's MAC address? for more help.)
- Once you know the MAC address for that device, check each entry that you haven't identified yet in your Circle app's device list to see if the MAC address for that entry matches the one for the device you're trying to identify (see image below).
Circle device identification walkthrough (Circle with Disney only)
We've created this helpful walkthrough to help you figure out which device is which in your home. Whether you are trying to identify a device that you find in your Circle app or match a physical device to one of the Circle app's entries, this walkthrough will help you over several of the most common hurdles you may encounter.
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