Droid attached to Wi-Fi; How to change the device name

[sumuller]

Hello helpful folks,

Was hopoing this was an easy fix that someone might be able to help with. When I connect to my home network using my various computers and idevices, they all show up attached to my router by their computer name (though admittedly the iTouch just shows iPod5, or iPod6 or somesuch, and not what I actually named it, such as "Jake's iPod"). However when I connect to my home Wi-Fi with using either mine or my wife's Moto Droid, it just shows up as "<unknown>". There is no way to edit this in the router control panel, as it is what is being transmitted by the device. Any ideas on how to change my Droid's device name? Thanks.

To set the wireless device name on a Netgear RangeMax DualBand Wireless N Modem Router:
(1) login
(2) On left hand menu, scroll down to "Advanced" settings and click on "LAN setup"
(3) Middle panel will show LAN details, look for "Address Reservation" and if no addresses were reserved before, you will see only table headers for:

#

IP Address

Device Name

MAC Address

(4) click on the "ADD" button and a table with existing connected devices will show
(4.1) for a device already on the list:
(4.1.1) select the radio button for the desired device with MAC address matching phone's MAC address (Android Mac Address found in Settings/Wireless Networks/Wi-Fi Settings, click menu button and click Advanced)
(4.1.2) IP address, Mac Address and Device Name fields fill in automatically, change the Device Name from UNKNOWN to its new name
(4.1.3) click ADD, enter login and password and phone device shows now named
(4.1.4) repeat 4.1.1 - 4.1.3 to reserve address (change device name) for more devices on the LAN list
(4.2) for a device not on the list:
(4.2.1) type in the IP address, MAC address and desired Device Name
(4.1.2) click ADD, enter login and password and phone device shows now named
(4.1.3) repeat 4.1.1 - 4.1.2 to reserve address for more devices on the LAN list
(5) click APPLY button
(6) logout from Netgear router

Now do the happy dance

[zero7404]

the OP started this topic over a year ago, but i stumbled upon it while looking to change my phone's hostname ....

i have my router secured wpa2, mac filtering, DHCP reservation, as many security features i can enable on a dir-825. all my clients have names i set myself but the phone kept appearing with the generic android_xxxxxx....

so i found how to change the hostname directly on the phone, must be rooted and have android terminal installed:

open a terminal, type these commands:

$ su
# getprop net.hostname

the preset hostname will be displayed. then type:

# setprop net.hostname whateveryouwant

where 'whateveryouwant' is the hostname you want.

done.

[tommyg562000]

the OP started this topic over a year ago, but i stumbled upon it while looking to change my phone's hostname ....

i have my router secured wpa2, mac filtering, DHCP reservation, as many security features i can enable on a dir-825. all my clients have names i set myself but the phone kept appearing with the generic android_xxxxxx....

so i found how to change the hostname directly on the phone, must be rooted and have android terminal installed:

open a terminal, type these commands:

$ su
# getprop net.hostname

the preset hostname will be displayed. then type:

# setprop net.hostname whateveryouwant

where 'whateveryouwant' is the hostname you want.

done.

You my friend are awesome! Thanks, been trying to figure this out since my Uverse router won't let me change the name of android devices (yeah, weird. every other device i can tho)

[zero7404]

thanks ... i poked around online until i found something, simply posted it here for ppl.
since i moved on to cm 7, there's an option to set the host name to whatever i want without having to go thru terminal .... although i noticed sometimes that my router doesn't pick up the name i set. that was in the past. i think when i used the method above it sometimes stuck and sometimes didn't. since going cyanogen i haven't noticed this issue.

[ktklein72]

the OP started this topic over a year ago, but i stumbled upon it while looking to change my phone's hostname ....

i have my router secured wpa2, mac filtering, DHCP reservation, as many security features i can enable on a dir-825. all my clients have names i set myself but the phone kept appearing with the generic android_xxxxxx....

so i found how to change the hostname directly on the phone, must be rooted and have android terminal installed:

open a terminal, type these commands:

$ su
# getprop net.hostname

the preset hostname will be displayed. then type:

# setprop net.hostname whateveryouwant

where 'whateveryouwant' is the hostname you want.

done.

This is very helpful to know, but it seems the change is only until you reboot your phone. Has anyone else found this to be the case? Is there any permanent option of changing it?

[zero7404]

This is very helpful to know, but it seems the change is only until you reboot your phone. Has anyone else found this to be the case? Is there any permanent option of changing it?

i noticed that too .... when i switched to cm 7 and specified a hostname in cyanogenmod settings, it sticks forever

.....
sent via android

[nubby]

What type of router?

[sdbcivic]

so rooting is the only way??? i had my og droid rooted but only used wifi tether so i never bothered rooting my razr but what the heck.

[zero7404]

i would say so unless theres an app out there that would name the device each time wifi is used ...

device name is not important tho ...

.....
sent via android

[sdbcivic]

well device name is important when your connecting to a secure network and there is a list of specific computer names that can connect to the network android 144512326877 is not on the approved list i guarantee it! wink wink!