Method and apparatus for accommodating duplicate MAC addresses

Each access node is associated with one or more IP subnets with a preferred default subnet. Each subnet is instantiated as a unique virtual Ethernet broadcast domain. As client nodes register on the communication network, they will dynamically try to obtain an IP address for use on the communication network. As part of this process, the MAC address of the client node will be checked to ensure that it is not a duplicate of another MAC address associated with another client node that has already been assigned an IP address from the default subnet. When duplicate MAC addresses are detected, the device with the duplicate MAC address will be assigned an IP address from a different subnet so that more than one client device with the same MAC address are not associated with the same subnet.