by classichasclass on 6/21/2025, 3:37:13 PM
by ammar2 on 6/21/2025, 3:45:05 PM
Glad this feature is built into most modern operating systems these days.
For MacOS (Sequoia+) you can just forget the network and reconnect to get a new MAC address [1].
Android's documentation for if it decides to generate a new address per connection is a little vague [2], but I'm guessing forgetting and reconnecting works as well, you may also need to flip the "Wi-Fi non-persistent MAC randomization" bit in developer settings.
On Windows, flipping the "Random hardware address" switch seems to cause it to generate a new seed/address for me.
[1] https://support.apple.com/en-euro/102509
[2] https://source.android.com/docs/core/connect/wifi-mac-random...
by vachina on 6/21/2025, 6:33:34 PM
I used to strap 20 virtual eths to my Linux box because my dorm gave only like 512kbps per account, and then aggregated the 20 interfaces.
by purplehat_ on 6/21/2025, 5:22:07 PM
Here's an equivalent little script for Debian Linux (but should work on most distros), based on classhasclass's comment:
NEW_MAC=$(printf '02:%02x:%02x:%02x:%02x:%02x\n' $((RANDOM%256)) $((RANDOM%256)) $((RANDOM%256)) $((RANDOM%256)) $((RANDOM%256)))
sudo ip link set wlan0 down
sudo ip link set wlan0 address "$NEW_MAC"
sudo ip link set wlan0 up
by johnebgd on 6/21/2025, 8:57:25 PM
Reminds me of Perfigo Smart Access before Cisco bought them. Network security with a MAC address whitelist. If you knew a whitelisted computer you’d have the same access it permitted. This was back before captive portal took off…
by mannyv on 6/21/2025, 4:46:07 PM
If you really want to screw with these set your MAC address to 00:00:00:00:00:00
It’s an illegal address, but most equipment will take it because test devices occasionally come from the factory with that MAC. But higher level stuff might barf on it because it’s technically illegal.
by kazinator on 6/21/2025, 3:43:25 PM
This has been an option in Android network settings forever: randomize your MAC. I think it's enabled by default now? It's a basic privacy feature; you can be fingerprinted by your device's MAC.
by o_____________o on 6/21/2025, 4:20:37 PM
Alternatively for Mac,
by netik on 6/21/2025, 5:27:00 PM
The trivial defense against this is time limited passwords for Wifi access. Deny all access until a valid password is entered, only permit that password and MAC address pair for n minutes.
Buy a coffee, get a new password, etc.
by balls187 on 6/21/2025, 7:48:48 PM
Haven’t ever encountered any place that had a wifi time limit. In the late 2000’s internet cafes had time limits but that was enforced on their own devices.
Is there a specific scenario where time limited wifi is common place?
by glerk on 6/21/2025, 3:55:23 PM
Alternatively, disconnect from the wifi, use this command and reconnect:
sudo ifconfig en0 ether 02:11:22:33:44:55
Just ran into this on icelandair.
by avidiax on 6/21/2025, 3:38:20 PM
I feel this would be more useful as a utility to manage your MAC addresses.
That would let you, for example, clone a MAC address or IP address between your computer and a phone, and maybe automatically resolve contention.
That way, you can split purchased WiFi (such as on a plane) between multiple devices.
by lrvick on 6/21/2025, 8:05:46 PM
Solved problem on linux for decades:
by nixpulvis on 6/21/2025, 5:57:09 PM
I used to use this little macOS script at coffee shops.
by ClawsOnPaws on 6/21/2025, 8:08:51 PM
Since this is only available for mac, couldn't this fairly easily be solved with shortcuts?
by deanc on 6/21/2025, 7:22:28 PM
A few years ago I saw a tip somewhere here on how to scan which MAC addresses are connected to nearby wifi and hijack their mac address and steal their internet connection.
by caioluders on 6/21/2025, 7:52:49 PM
Some python that clones other people mac + random https://github.com/caioluders/mac_auto_cloner
by boston_clone on 6/21/2025, 3:59:32 PM
Can you not manually set your MAC address in the network configuration portion of macOS settings anymore? Does this not accomplish that same task, just with an abstracted layer of “randomness” for address generation? Another commenter already de-bloated the entire application into a bash one-liner
by crustycoder on 6/21/2025, 4:14:15 PM
On android it can be toggled on If Developer Options are enabled.
by cactusplant7374 on 6/21/2025, 3:35:44 PM
Doesn't Mac already have this with rotating MAC addresses? I also ran into an access point that detected this and required me to turn it off to continue.
by polivier on 6/21/2025, 5:01:20 PM
On Linux you can use `macchanger` to change your MAC address from the terminal.
by ndgold on 6/21/2025, 3:42:36 PM
Nice little helper friend
by deadbabe on 6/21/2025, 6:16:36 PM
This is so unethical and no one gives a fuck, society crumbles when people just feel entitled to take more than their fair share.
Alternatively, if you don't want to run the whole Electron app, the money is this line: