Public vs. Random Static Device Address

[dkkeller]

Hey 

what are the downsides of using the already burned-in Random Static Device Address compared to a Public Address? 

My assumptions are as follows: 

	Pro	Con
Public	Is a registered IEEE address and there should not be collisions with others.	Price
Random Static	For free and already burned-in.	Might be colliding with others. Probability 1 / (2^46), depending on the RNG .

I'd like to use the burned-in Random Static Device Address in combination with a Random Private Resolvable Device Address (for bonded devices). Do you see a potential risk of using the burned-in Random Static Device Address, for this scenario? 

Thanks a lot!

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

There is no practical issue with using the default random static address from FICR. With 46 bits, the likelihood of a collision is extremely low (see this post).

[Emil Lenngren]

I've listed some more reasons at https://stackoverflow.com/a/70181575/556495.

If you want to connect from Android, it has the issue in its API that the address type cannot be set when connecting. It instead uses heuristics to "guess" the address type, which works by checking a list of previously scanned devices as well as bonded devices. If not found, it usually defaults to Public address type.

One good thing with public addresses is that you get an address range for your products which can be nice to have in some circumstances.