How To Change The Mac Address Of Any Phone

A device's MAC address is assigned past the manufacturer, but it's not to difficult to change—or "spoof"—those addresses when y'all demand to. Here's how do do it, and why you might desire to.

Each network interface connected to your network—whether it's your router, wireless device, or network menu in your calculator—has a unique media admission control (MAC) address. These MAC addresses—sometimes referred to as concrete or hardware addresses—are assigned in the factory, only you can unremarkably modify the addresses in software.

What MAC Addresses Are Used For

At the lowest networking level, network interfaces attached to a network use MAC addresses to communicate with one another. When a browser on your calculator needs to grab a web page from a server on the Internet, for example, that request passes downward through several layers of the TCP/IP protocol. The web accost yous blazon gets translated to the IP accost of the server. Your reckoner sends the request to your router, which then sends it out onto the Internet. At the hardware level of your network card, though, your network card is only looking at other MAC addresses for interfaces on the same network. Information technology knows to send the request to the MAC address of your router's network interface.

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In addition to their cadre networking employ, MAC addresses are oft used for other purposes:

Static IP Assignment: Routers permit you to assign static IP addresses to your computers. When a device connects, it e'er receives a specific IP address if it has a matching MAC address
MAC Address Filtering: Networks tin can use MAC address filtering, but allowing devices with specific MAC addresses to connect to a network. This isn't a great security tool because people tin spoof their MAC addresses.
MAC Authentication: Some Internet service providers may require authentication with a MAC address and merely permit a device with that MAC address to connect to the Internet. Y'all may need to modify your router or figurer's MAC address to connect.
Device Identification: Many airport Wi-Fi networks and other public Wi-Fi networks utilize a device's MAC address to place it. For example, an airport Wi-Fi network might offering a costless 30 minutes and so ban your MAC address from receiving more Wi-Fi. Change your MAC address and you could get more Wi-Fi. (Complimentary, express Wi-Fi may as well be tracked using browser cookies or an account system.)
Device Tracking: Considering they're unique, MAC addresses can be used to track you. When yous walk effectually, your smartphone scans for nearby Wi-Fi networks and broadcasts its MAC accost. A company named Renew London used trash bins in the city of London to track people's movements effectually the city based on their MAC addresses. Apple's iOS eight will use a random MAC address each fourth dimension it scans for nearby Wi-Fi networks to foreclose this sort of tracking.

Conduct in mind that each network interface has its own MAC address. And so, on a typical laptop with both a Wi-Fi radio and a wired Ethernet port, the wireless and wired network interface each have their own unique MAC addresses.

Change a MAC Accost in Windows

Most network cards permit you to set a custom MAC address from their configuration panes in the Device Manager, although some network drivers may not support this characteristic.

First, open the Device Director. On Windows eight and x, press Windows+X, and and then click "Device Managing director" on the Power User carte du jour. On Windows 7, press the Windows key, type "Device Manager" to search for it, and then click the "Device Manager" entry. The Device Manager app will look the aforementioned no matter which version of Windows you're using.

In Device Managing director, nether the "Network adapters" section, right-click the network interface you want to alter, and then select "Properties" from the context carte.

In the properties window, on the "Advanced" tab and select the "Network Address" entry in the "Holding" list. If you don't see this option, so your network driver doesn't back up this feature.

Enable the Value selection and type your desired MAC address without any separating characters—don't use dashes or colons. Click "OK" when you're done.

Change a MAC Address in Linux

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Modern Linux distributions like Ubuntu typically use Network Manager, which provides a graphical way to spoof a MAC address.

For instance, in Ubuntu you'd click the network icon on the top console, click "Edit Connections," select the network connection you desire to modify, and then click "Edit." On the Ethernet tab, yous'd enter a new MAC accost in the "Cloned MAC address" field, and so save your changes.

Yous can likewise do this the onetime-fashioned mode. This involves taking the network interface down, running a command to change its MAC address, and and so bringing it support. Be sure to supervene upon "eth0" with the name of the network interface you lot want to modify and enter the MAC address of your selection:

sudo ifconfig eth0 downwards  sudo ifconfig eth0 hw ether xx:xx:twenty:twenty:xx:xx  sudo ifconfig eth0 up

You'll take to change the appropriate configuration file nether /etc/network/interfaces.d/ or the /etc/network/interfaces file itself if you desire this alter to always take effect at kick time. If you don't, your MAC address will be reset when you restart.

Change a MAC Address in Mac OS X

Mac OS X's System Preferences pane displays each network interface's MAC address, but doesn't let you lot to change information technology. For that, you need the Terminal.

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Open up a Final window (press Control + Space, blazon "Terminal," and then press Enter.) Run the following command, replacing en0 with your network interface'south proper name and filling in your own MAC address:

sudo ifconfig en0 xx:20:20:xx:xx:xx

The network interface will more often than not exist either en0 or en1 , depending on whether you desire to configure a Mac'southward Wi-Fi or Ethernet interface. Run the ifconfig command to see a listing of interfaces if you lot're not sure of the appropriate network interface's proper noun.

Every bit on Linux, this change is temporary and will be reset when you adjacent reboot. Yous'll need to use a script that automatically runs this command on boot if you'd like to permanently modify your Mac address.

Yous tin verify your change took consequence by running a control that shows your network connection details and checking what MAC address your network interface reports afterwards. On Windows, run the ipconfig /all command in a Command Prompt window. On Linux or Mac OS X, run the ifconfig command. And if you need to modify the MAC accost on your router, yous'll observe this selection in your router's web interface.

Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/192173/HOW-AND-WHY-TO-CHANGE-YOUR-MAC-ADDRESS-ON-WINDOWS-LINUX-AND-MAC/

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