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Is there a way to change Ethernet's MAC address?

W

Wowzera

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 14, 2008
858
28
Brazil
Hello,

I've tried lot of things but couldn't find nothing simple and working to do the job. Do anyone know a way to do it?

I am running Mac OS X 10.5.6. I own a Early 2008 Macbook.


Reason: I want to change my MAC address because on my university its look to be blocked, I can see other networks but couldn't surf the web or anything else.

Thanks for reading! :)
 
man ifconfig

will give you what you need ... but it resets after each reboot. You may want to address *why* you have been blacklisted.
 
The MAC address is computer-specific; it is tied to your machine, making it a prime way of allowing only certain computers to connect to a network. If you did something to warrant quarantining from their network by their rules, you deserve the punishment associated therein.
 
The command is:

Code: 
sudo ifconfig en0 ether xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx

Where "en0" is the name of your interface (en0 is the default ethernet, check Network Utility in case yours is different) and "xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx" is the new MAC address. The address will reset to its default upon reboot. You will need to enter your password.
 
Wowzera said:
...

Reason: I want to change my MAC address because on my university its look to be blocked, I can see other networks but couldn't surf the web or anything else.

...
Click to expand...
There are two possibilities here:
  1. You were blacklisted because you violated your university's rules. If you try to access the network from the same computer using a different MAC address, then you will probably be detected. If you are caught doing this, then you will find yourself in much worse trouble than you are in now.
  2. Your university changed security measures to allow only computers with specific MAC addresses to access its network. If this is the case, then the only way for you to access the network is to use the MAC address of an allowed computer. This gives you two options: a. Steal the MAC address of an allowed computer. b. Apply for admission to the network. I suggest the latter.
 
You could also hide behind any old router as the school network will only see that routers MAC address while you enjoy the web. Just note that you wont be able to access some network services like some servers on the network.
 
I love how everyone here assumes that changing your MAC address is some sign of nefarious intent... :rolleyes: Sigh. Oh CSI, what hath you wrought?!

For the OP:

It depends on your Mac hardware and your OS version. Different combinations require different voodoo -- Apple breaks MAC spoofing all the time, so you might have to play around.

You can try

Code: 
ifconfig en0 lladdr

as well as the one that Jethryn Freyman posted. One of them should (emphasis on "should") work.
 
ppc750fx said:
I love how everyone here assumes that changing your MAC address is some sign of nefarious intent...
Click to expand...

I think it's less about assumption and more about:

wowzera said:
Reason: I want to change my MAC address because on my university its look to be blocked
Click to expand...

So the reason for it being changed is to bypass a security setting. Nope, no nefarious intent there :rolleyes:
 
Ok,

It's not illegal to change my MAC address and I am sure my university can do nothing about it. They offer a free Hi-Fi connection for everyone on the university, but, some peoples overload that connection with P2P and lot of downloads. My classes are in the laboratory, so I unplug the ethernet cable from the computer I was supposed to use and plug it on my macbook. It used to work last week, now it does not work anymore :(

I've tried Jethryn Freyman method but had no success, my device keep with the same MAC address. I couldn't use ppc750fx method, I typed in terminal lot of ways, but terminal returned these messages:

ifconfig: 'lladdr' requires argument - Just typed the code line.

ifconfig: ioctl (set lladdr): Operation not permitted - Informing a new MAC address.

and using sudo, but nothing happened, didn't even ask for password.

Is there any other way to do it? The computers of my class are so bad :( I want to work on my Mac!

Thank you all!
 
Wowzera said:
...

It's not illegal to change my MAC address and I am sure my university can do nothing about it. ...
Click to expand...
It is not about the law, it is about your university's rules and regulations. You seem to know why you were banned, but you also seem to believe that you were banned unfairly. If you feel that you were banned unfairly, then you should appeal.

I will repeat my earlier warning: If you are caught on the your university network without permission, then you will find yourself in much worse trouble than you are in now. It will be considered to be a break-in. Be hard-headed or not. The choice is yours.
 
MisterMe said:
It is not about the law, it is about your university's rules and regulations. You seem to know why you were banned, but you also seem to believe that you were banned unfairly. If you feel that you were banned unfairly, then you should appeal.

I will repeat my earlier warning: If you are caught on the your university network without permission, then you will find yourself in much worse trouble than you are in now. It will be considered to be a break-in. Be hard-headed or not. The choice is yours.
Click to expand...

This could apply to USA, but not here.
I don't know if I am banned or what ever, I think they set their router to only accept some MAC addresses. I'd no reason to be banned, all bandwidth I used from them was to access their website and download things from themselves.

Anyways, sorry if I was rude, I appreciate your effort on helping me. Thank you very much!
 
I'm not going to argue the morality of this.

Even given what the OP said, there are legitimate reasons for this. There are also illegitimate reasons. I'm not going to play the game of guessing whether he wants it for a legitimate reason or otherwise.

To the OP:

You forgot to specify the address you're changing to ;-) I omitted that because I thought you might figure it out, but I guess most people simply type exactly what they see when they see a terminal command. Sigh.

At any rate, the full command you'll need to use (including sudo to run it as root) is:

Code: 
sudo ifconfig en0 lladdr 00:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

Dig?
 
Your computer has two, one for wireless and one for using the wired connection over ethernet.

If they have blocked both, you likely have been a bad boy, or need to contact them to see why you've been blocked twice.
 
Wowzera said:
This could apply to USA, but not here.
I don't know if I am banned or what ever, I think they set their router to only accept some MAC addresses. I'd no reason to be banned, all bandwidth I used from them was to access their website and download things from themselves.

Anyways, sorry if I was rude, I appreciate your effort on helping me. Thank you very much!
Click to expand...
There is a fundamental flaw in your logic. If your university had no legal power to enforce its rules of service, then it would not have banned you in the first place. In fact, it would not have established the rules. If you have not been banned already, then you will get yourself banned if you succeed in what you are trying to do. Be hard-headed.
 
Has the OP actually ASKED the university tech support people about the problem? He might be just assuming he has been banned. It would be a better starting point to talk to the tech people and describe his problem and ask if they can help him.
 
old-wiz said:
Has the OP actually ASKED the university tech support people about the problem? He might be just assuming he has been banned. It would be a better starting point to talk to the tech people and describe his problem and ask if they can help him.
Click to expand...
I have been trying to find evidence in the OP's posts that support your scenario. However, he doesn't come across as that naïve. To the contrary, the OP gives the impression that he is accurately stating that he was banned. He also gives the impression that he knows why he was banned.
 
Tex-Twil said:
Hi,
you can have a look here and here (this is for airport though)

Tex
Click to expand...
I've checked, but they looks to work only for Airport. :(
Thanks.

ppc750fx said:
I'm not going to argue the morality of this.

Even given what the OP said, there are legitimate reasons for this. There are also illegitimate reasons. I'm not going to play the game of guessing whether he wants it for a legitimate reason or otherwise.

To the OP:

You forgot to specify the address you're changing to ;-) I omitted that because I thought you might figure it out, but I guess most people simply type exactly what they see when they see a terminal command. Sigh.

At any rate, the full command you'll need to use (including sudo to run it as root) is:

Code: 
sudo ifconfig en0 lladdr 00:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

Dig?
Click to expand...

I tried, does not seem to work :(
Works for airport.
Thanks.
Sun Baked said:
Your computer has two, one for wireless and one for using the wired connection over ethernet.

If they have blocked both, you likely have been a bad boy, or need to contact them to see why you've been blocked twice.
Click to expand...

No, their wireless service is ****, as I have posted earlier, takes age to load even Google.com.

MisterMe said:
There is a fundamental flaw in your logic. If your university had no legal power to enforce its rules of service, then it would not have banned you in the first place. In fact, it would not have established the rules. If you have not been banned already, then you will get yourself banned if you succeed in what you are trying to do. Be hard-headed.
Click to expand...

I don't know, I've tried with other notebook and it keeps unable to browse over internet, but the PC it's plugged can.
Thanks.

old-wiz said:
Has the OP actually ASKED the university tech support people about the problem? He might be just assuming he has been banned. It would be a better starting point to talk to the tech people and describe his problem and ask if they can help him.
Click to expand...

I asked my teacher, but, he didn't solve it, said me to use the wireless service instead of the wired connection. Talk with the Network OP of the university may be hard, I don't even know where to find him.
Thanks.

MisterMe said:
I have been trying to find evidence in the OP's posts that support your scenario. However, he doesn't come across as that naïve. To the contrary, the OP gives the impression that he is accurately stating that he was banned. He also gives the impression that he knows why he was banned.
Click to expand...

As I have said earlier here, all pages I browsed was from their own website, to download resources and such. If I was sure of it, certainly I wouldn't even create this thread. I would accept it and/or use my other laptop (that is a MBP 15").
 
Tex-Twil said:
For me, this works

Code: 
sudo ifconfig en0 ether aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff

Tex.
Click to expand...

Here nothing works, how you did it?
I type the terminal command, type my password, but the MAC address keeps the same :(
Do you have it plugged or something else? How are you doing?
Btw, I am running Leopard, I've heard it does not work for it.

Thank you very much.
 
Wowzera said:
Here nothing works, how you did it?
I type the terminal command, type my password, but the MAC address keeps the same :(
Do you have it plugged or something else? How are you doing?
Btw, I am running Leopard, I've heard it does not work for it.

Thank you very much.
Click to expand...
Hi,
I also have leopard. Maybe your interface has to be "down" before changing it.

Code: 
sudo ifconfig en0 down
sudo ifconfig en0 ether aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff
sudo ifconfig en0 up
 
Tex-Twil said:
Hi,
I also have leopard. Maybe your interface has to be "down" before changing it.

Code: 
sudo ifconfig en0 down
sudo ifconfig en0 ether aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff
sudo ifconfig en0 up
Click to expand...

Code: 
sudoLast login: Thu Apr 30 02:45:07 on console
 ifconfig en0macbook-de-matheus-bossle:~ Matheus$ sudo ifconfig en0 down
Password:
macbook-de-matheus-bossle:~ Matheus$ sudo ifconfig en0 ether aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff
ifconfig: ioctl (SIOCAIFADDR): Network is down
macbook-de-matheus-bossle:~ Matheus$ sudo ifconfig en0 up
macbook-de-matheus-bossle:~ Matheus$


I did something wrong? Does not look to work.
Btw, I am not with it plugged right now and weren't before (if that matters).

Thank you very much on your efforts to help me Tex-Twil. :)
 
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