What is MAC?
A
Media Access Control address (MAC address) is a unique identifier
assigned to network interfaces for communications on the physical
network segment. MAC addresses are most often assigned by the
manufacturer of a network interface card (NIC) and are stored in its
hardware, the card's read-only memory, or some other firmware mechanism.
If assigned by the manufacturer, a MAC address usually encodes the
manufacturer's registered identification number. It may also be known as
an Ethernet hardware address (EHA), hardware address, adapter address,
or physical address. An Ethernet MAC address is a six byte number,
usually expressed as a twelve digit hexadecimal number.(Example - 4A:BC:C2:04:AB:1F).
Although intended to be a
permanent and globally unique identification, it is possible to change
the MAC address on most of today's hardware, an action often referred to
as MAC spoofing. Unlike IP address spoofing, where senders spoofing
their address in a request direct the receiver into sending the response
elsewhere, in MAC address spoofing, the response is received by the
spoofing party. However, MAC address spoofing is limited to the local
broadcast domain.
Most Internet subscriptions
allow the customer only a single IP address. The Internet Service
Provider (ISP) may assign one static (fixed) IP address to each
customer. However, this approach is an inefficient use of IP addresses
that are currently in short supply. The ISP more commonly issues each
customer dynamic IP address that may change each time the customer
connects to the Internet.
ISPs ensure each customer
receives only one dynamic address using several methods. Dial-up and
many DSL services typically require the customer to log in with a
username and password. Cable modem services, on the other hand, do this
by registering and tracking the MAC address of the device that connects
to the ISP.
The device whose MAC address is
monitored by an ISP can be either the cable modem, a broadband router,
or the PC that hosts the Internet connection. The customer is free to
build a network behind this equipment, but the ISP expects the MAC
address to match the registered value at all times.
Whenever a customer replaces
that device, however, or changes the network adapter inside it, the MAC
address of this new equipment will no longer match the one registered at
the ISP. The ISP will often disable the customer's Internet connection
for security (and billing) reasons.
Although MAC addresses do not
reveal any geographic location information like IP addresses do,
changing MAC addresses may improve your Internet privacy in some
situations. There is a software available which can be used for changing
mac address.
Technique 1: A Hard Way
Under
Windows XP, the MAC address can be changed in the Ethernet adapter's
Properties menu, in the Advanced tab, as "MAC Address", "Locally
Administered Address", "Ethernet Address" or "Network Address". The
exact name depends on the Ethernet driver used; not all drivers support
changing the MAC address in this way.
However, a better solution -
requiring Administrative User Rights - is to pass over the System
Registry Keys under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.
Here settings for each network interface can be found. The contents of
the string value called 'NetworkAddress' will be used to set the MAC
address of the adapter when next it is enabled. Resetting the adapter
can be accomplished in script with the freely available command line
utility devcon from Microsoft, or from the adapters context menu in the
Network Connections control panel applet.
Note:
to check your MAC address easily on a Windows XP box, go to Run, type
CMD, then type "ipconfig /all" without quotation in the command prompt.
The number under physical address is the MAC address. If multiple IP are
displayed, you should look under the label "Ethernet adapter x", where x
is the name of your connection (which is Local Area Connection by
default).
Technique 2: Try these softwares.
Download Technitium MAC Address Changer From HERE
Download SMAC MAC Address Changer From HERE
Download Mac MakeUp From HERE
Download MadMACs Form HERE
Download EtherChange From HERE
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