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How to change (spoof) mac address with Tiger

D

dajar

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 18, 2006
4
0
I wonder is it possible for me to change mac address with tiger? I am doing it with my linux &windows systems; because my cable provider assigns ip address directly to only one computer and recognizes the computer with the mac address. My desktop pc is registered with the cable provider; which is online most of the time. But sometimes I wanna connect internet with my ibook, but it doesn't work because of this. Is there a program or any trick to change (spoof) my mac address just like I did in linux?

p.s: please don't say "buy a router". I don't have that much a budget nowadays :(
 
I tried to do this in the Terminal after realising that the network preferences panel in Tiger no longer allowed it, but all that happened was the interface no longer transmitted packets.

However, since I was trying it on 10.4.0, you may have better luck now. Check out the man file on ifconfig for details.
 
dajar said:
p.s: please don't say "buy a router". I don't have that much a budget nowadays :(
Click to expand...
One option since your on a tight budget. Is m0n0wall,(www.m0n0.ch) many technical people have a old 233 mhz machine they have sitting in a corner or aleast can find one for free.
 
You could also buy a second ethernet card for your PC ($15 or less easy).

But if your laptop has wireless I'm definitely gonna go with go get the wireless router.
 
Are you kiddin? Now a days you can usually get a router for free after some rebates. CompUSa does it all the time. Its usually like $20 out the door. A wrired router you an usually get for $20 out the door there to and that happens alot.

Kevin
 
dajar said:
I wonder is it possible for me to change mac address with tiger? I am doing it with my linux &windows systems; because my cable provider assigns ip address directly to only one computer and recognizes the computer with the mac address. My desktop pc is registered with the cable provider; which is online most of the time. But sometimes I wanna connect internet with my ibook, but it doesn't work because of this. Is there a program or any trick to change (spoof) my mac address just like I did in linux?

p.s: please don't say "buy a router". I don't have that much a budget nowadays :(
Click to expand...

Yes, it is possible. The command is:

sudo ifconfig en0 lladdr new_mac_address

This is assuming that your ethernet is running on interface en0. You might
as well need to bring the interface down and then up again to get the
new IP address. Enjoy!
 
Compile 'em all said:
sudo ifconfig en0 lladdr new_mac_address
Click to expand...

Note -- you have separate MAC addresses, from what I understand, for each network adaptor, and if you have Airport, then you have at least two, right? One for Airport and one for Ethernet? Is that correct?

Related to this, there's always something I wondered... your network adaptor has a "true" hardware MAC (i.e. the one it started out life with before you went and did this). Is there a way to make the adaptor return back to the original MAC (does it do so automatically on reboot), or do you have to write the MAC down and use this command to return it to the original MAC?
 
Compile 'em all said:
Yes, it is possible. The command is:

sudo ifconfig en0 lladdr new_mac_address

This is assuming that your ethernet is running on interface en0. You might
as well need to bring the interface down and then up again to get the
new IP address. Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Take the interface down ; change the mac address ; bring the interface up. Should work. in Terminal, read "man ifconfig".

But I must agree that a router is the right way to go. Look for a used Linksys wrt54g (v2 through v4 are best due to more RAM and flash than v5 and later). Then upgrade it with dd-wrt firmware (http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/index.php)
 
daveL said:
Take the interface down ; change the mac address ; bring the interface up. Should work. in Terminal, read "man ifconfig".
Click to expand...

In OS X, You _can't_ change the MAC Address of an interface when it is
down a la GNU/Linux.

After entering the command I mentioned in my previous post he needs to
restart the interface. Either using "sudo en0 down" then "sudo en0 up" or by
just plugging out/in the ethernet cable.

There is absolutely zero point in buying a router when he can just enter 1 or
2 commands to get the thing working. Heck, he mentions that he uses GNU/Linux
so working with Bash should be no problem for him.
 
Compile 'em all said:
In OS X, You _can't_ change the MAC Address of an interface when it is
down a la GNU/Linux.

After entering the command I mentioned in my previous post he needs to
restart the interface. Either using "sudo en0 down" then "sudo en0 up" or by
just plugging out/in the ethernet cable.

There is absolutely zero point in buying a router when he can just enter 1 or
2 commands to get the thing working. Heck, he mentions that he uses GNU/Linux
so working with Bash should be no problem for him.
Click to expand...
OK. I had no reason to try the command sequence on OS X. I just knew that's how it works on most Unix/Linux systems.

Anyway, I still think the router is a better solution. If for no other reason than the added security. You get an SPI firewall and can use private IP addresses inside your network. Anyway, to each his own.
 
mkrishnan said:
Note -- you have separate MAC addresses, from what I understand, for each network adaptor, and if you have Airport, then you have at least two, right? One for Airport and one for Ethernet? Is that correct?
Click to expand...

Yep, each network adapter (whether Airport or ethernet) has its own MAC
address. Usually, the ethernet will be bound to en0 and the airport to en1.
You can check it by just typing "ifconfig" in Terminal.

Related to this, there's always something I wondered... your network adaptor has a "true" hardware MAC (i.e. the one it started out life with before you went and did this). Is there a way to make the adaptor return back to the original MAC (does it do so automatically on reboot), or do you have to write the MAC down and use this command to return it to the original MAC?
Click to expand...

Yes, the MAC Address will go back to the original upon reboot.
 
Best Router I've Found

Is my iMac! Turn Airport on, create a network, turn on "Share Internet Connection" in sharing. My MacBook picks it up all over the house! Far better than either the Linksys or Dlinks I have tried in the past! That's right, "It Just Works"!
 
dsnort said:
Is my iMac! Turn Airport on, create a network, turn on "Share Internet Connection" in sharing. My MacBook picks it up all over the house! Far better than either the Linksys or Dlinks I have tried in the past! That's right, "It Just Works"!
Click to expand...

Do you have to leave your iMac on for it to share the connection? It won't work if it is sleeping?
 
dsnort said:
Is my iMac! Turn Airport on, create a network, turn on "Share Internet Connection" in sharing. My MacBook picks it up all over the house! Far better than either the Linksys or Dlinks I have tried in the past! That's right, "It Just Works"!
Click to expand...

It is a very nice feature. :) The only weakness of it is that it does not broadcast WPA (only WEP), as far as I know. And of course I've had the same wireless router (AEBS) since 2003 and see no need to change it up now. But it's a nice thing to have. :)
 
Compile 'em all; thank you very much. It works like a charm. Your advice saved me from lots of effort. :)

Also I want to thank everyone who replied this post.
 
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