A method and system for use in identifying customer premises equipment (CPE) in a distributed network are presented. The method utilizes a unique identifier provided by a CPE device to an access concentrator during the discovery stage of PPPoE communications in a distributed network. The access concentrator receives the unique identifier and stores the identifier in a database for use in identifying and managing CPE devices attached to a service provider's network. A system for identifying a communications device includes an access server and a database server. The access server is configured to receive an active discovery packet from a communications device. The active discovery packet has a tag comprising a device identifier field. The device identifier field is embedded in the tag by a module in the communications device, e.g., CPE device.