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Is there a NIC card that allows you to change your MAC address?

R

ripthesystem

Senior member
Is there a NIC card that allows you to change your MAC address?
I've heard through the grapevine that one exists but I can't seem to find ANY info on one at all.

Thanks in Advance
ripthesystem
 
Yep, you can do it with just about any NIC.

You don't actually change the address since that's hard coded, but rather what MAC address the OS reports.
Don't know how you'd do it in Windows, but under linux it should be something like "ifconfig ethX hw ether xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx" or something like that, have a look-see in the ifconfig manpage if you're a Linux user.
Technet might be a good place to start if you're a Windows user.
 
Thanks for the info .. what I really mean though is--- is there a card that will let you change the MAC address of the card itself? not just spoofing it for the OS?

Adul- happend to know of a card that's not part of a mobo that will let you? thx for the info though!!

ripthesystem
 
Originally posted by: ripthesystem
Thanks for the info .. what I really mean though is--- is there a card that will let you change the MAC address of the card itself? not just spoofing it for the OS?

Adul- happend to know of a card that's not part of a mobo that will let you? thx for the info though!!

ripthesystem
Click to expand...

No, at least not that I know of, and I highly doubt it, every manufacturer has a series of addresses to assign to their cards.

What's wrong with changing it in software anyway?
 
As stated above, it's quite simple to change the MAC address reported out in linux. But, I don't think it's doable in windows.

You are probably interested in this because you have a cable modem service set-up for a particular MAC. Just give them a call and tell them you have two computers with different MACs and ask them to add the card's MAC. FYI, most cable systems are smart enough to not permit multiple computers to be connected with identical MAC addresses. I was quite hopeful until I tried it myself.
 
He's not talking about what the card reports to the OS, he's talking about what the card reports to the "Network" and the answer is NO.

Why would you need to do this anyway? Is your network admin blocking Porn sites from your Mac Address? LOL.
 
Originally posted by: Whitedog
He's not talking about what the card reports to the OS, he's talking about what the card reports to the "Network" and the answer is NO.

Why would you need to do this anyway? Is your network admin blocking Porn sites from your Mac Address? LOL.
Click to expand...

um, they are talking about what the OS reports to the network, and that answer is YES. i've used the method mentioned above quite a bit.
 
It seems he is talking about chaning the MAC coded on the card, and I don't believe it is going to happen, unless you change the card itself.

I have called up cable companies to update MAC address info after installing a router, and it is much quicker just to spoof the MAC in the router's config. You don't wait on hold for 15 minutes that way!
 
Originally posted by: ripthesystem
Is there a NIC card that allows you to change your MAC address?
I've heard through the grapevine that one exists but I can't seem to find ANY info on one at all.

Thanks in Advance
ripthesystem
Click to expand...
Tell us what you're trying to accomplish and we'll be much better prepared to give you good advice/solutions.

Thorin
 
It seems he is talking about chaning the MAC coded on the card, and I don't believe it is going to happen.........
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I'm talking about. I know that the majority, if not all, NIC's won't let you do it. I have heard, however, that someone makes a NIC card that will let you change it.. I was merely wondering if this is just a wicked rumour or if such a card really exists.

Thx. Sorry I wasn't clearer
ripthesystem
 
I knew of a 3com utility that allowed you to change the MAC on the card. It was used by reps when duplicate MACs were found on the name network. I guess card makers have a fairly high duplicate rate, but they ship them to different regions to avoid problems. I've been on a few networks now where this has happened. Not sure what is available now though, but it used to be possible (a 2-3 years back, in the 3c905x early days).
 
You can't change the MAC address physically on any retail NICs. With about 3E14 different available mac addresses (50 thousandish each person on the planet, there is never any possibility of duplicates.)

How is changing the mac going to help you in any way that spoofing isnt?


(Edit 'cos I suck at maths)
 
Originally posted by: Woodchuck2000
You can't change the MAC address physically on any retail NICs. With about 3E14 different available mac addresses (50 thousandish each person on the planet, there is never any possibility of duplicates.)

How is changing the mac going to help you in any way that spoofing isnt?


(Edit 'cos I suck at maths)
Click to expand...

There is a very real possibility of duplicates. Manufacturing tends to introduce problems that theory didn't account for. Search around on the web for duplicate MAC addresses and you'll find a bunch of releases about network adapters (cards and onboard) that screw it up.
 
Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
Originally posted by: Whitedog
He's not talking about what the card reports to the OS, he's talking about what the card reports to the "Network" and the answer is NO.

Why would you need to do this anyway? Is your network admin blocking Porn sites from your Mac Address? LOL.
Click to expand...

um, they are talking about what the OS reports to the network, and that answer is YES. i've used the method mentioned above quite a bit.
Click to expand...

Yea Bong... I can read. I know what "they" were talking about.. but that's not what "He" was talking about...

rip, as far as I know, (and I only know this of older nics) some you can program the Flash ROM to use different IRQ's and stuff, but I've never seen nor heard of one where you can change the Mac addy. I don't even know what standards manufactureres use to assign them.

Are you "just curious" about this? Or is there a reason you'd want to do this?
 
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