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How to change the router's MAC address
Hello, I want to change the MAC address for my Netgear Nighthawk router. I do not see any option for this in the router's configuration menu. I know that this is possible with other Netgear rout...
Any piece of NIC , WiFi card or router has unique MAC address embedded in the unit when they were made. It is like your SSN, Do you think
there would be two identical SSN or two identical plate no. for two different cars? Another word it is like finger print. But... you can change it
getting into brain of the hardware by hacking. But I don't see the purpose. In the case of router you have two MAC one for wired, one for wireless. May I ask why you want to change it? Or I think you are talking about MAC cloning when you set u[p the router? If you play with MAC cloning
you can lose I'net connection.
Yes, I think I'm refering to MAC cloning. I guess some people also use the word "spoofing". The purpose is to get my ISP to issue me a new DHCP IP address.
What is the purpose of wamnting different address? What did you try so far?
- I have my reason and I don't really feel like it matters for this discussion. I know how DHCP works and the ISP leases an IP that is tied to the MAC address. If I call them they won't change the IP. That's their policy but technically they are easily capable of doing it. I've tried rebooting the router/modem but obviously the IP doesn't change because the MAC is the same and it picks up the same lease from the ISP. So is there a way to do what I want to do, short of buying a whole new router/modem?
The short answer is, there is no way to change the MAC address without buying a separate modem and router.
What you are failing to understand is that this goes beyond tying an IP address to a MAC address. When it comes to coax cable Internet service, the ISP ties your Internet subscription to your modem's MAC address. As in, "Magister76 is a paying customer with MAC address XYZ". If you were, somehow, able to change your modem's MAC address, your ISP would no longer recognize your modem as being associated with you. You would be perceived as either a non-customer (e.g. a guy moves into a house and hooks up a modem without subscribing for service) or as another customer with the same MAC address. Do you see the havoc that would ensue if customers chould change the MAC addresses on their modems?
You correctly point out that an IP address is tied to a MAC address for DHCP. It's not too hard to guess that you want to change your IP address because you are being DoS attacked or you are trying to hide your identity. Changing the MAC address is often useful to force a change in IP address. The problem is that a combination router/modem only has one Internet-facing MAC address. In this respect, a modem/router is just like a pure modem in that its MAC address cannot be changed for the reason I gave previously.
You can try shutting off your modem/router for at least one full day in the hopes that the ISP's DHCP server will flush its IP to MAC assignment. If that fails, then you will have to replace your modem/router. If you expect to change your IP address multiple times, then I suggest you buy a separate modem and router. This will decouple the customer-to-MAC and IP-to-MAC association (i.e. your modem's MAC identifies you as a customer and your router's MAC is used for IP adddress assignments). Then you can use the router's MAC spoofing/cloning feature to force IP address changes.