[Slick519]

I have a 1st gen intel imac, and i desperately need to spoof my MAC address. All of the simple modifications in terminal are only possible on PPC machines, apparently, because they seem to have no affect on mine.

I was also wondering if it would be possible to boot into XP and use software to spoof my MAC address from there. This seems unlikely to me, because traditional methods revert your MAC address after restart.

So, has anyone found a solution?

Pete

[brokenjago]

Why do you need to spoof your MAC address?

[ghporter]

This forum does not exist to help users circumvent valid protections installed on their employers'/schools' networks. So why DO you "desperately need" to spoof your MAC address?

[Slick519]

Basically, i have daily homework assignments due via my internet connection, and the university decided to ban my MAC address because of my bandwidth usage mimicked filesharing (i have a running FTP, and i bitorrent large LEGAL files).

Seeing as i live in one of the far off campus dorms, the commute to the computer lab is a pain in the neck and takes a lot of time. I do not have very much time right now to waste (midterm week) and i would rather like to focus on my school work rather than being stuck in the network admin office for 3-4 hours at a time.

[GSixZero]

Buy a USB ethernet dongle, or use a router with NAT.

[Slick519]

Basically, i am trying to use the prompt (logged in as root):

sudo ifconfig en0 lladdr [new MAC]

however, when i implement the change, i can see the new address using the ifconfig en0 prompt in terminal, but the address remains static in both the network utility and the network system preferences.

question is, am i really changing my MAC address?

The way the network admin is blocking my computer right now (at least i think) is it recognizes my MAC address on whatever port i am using, and then shuts it down automatically after about 1-2 hours of use, so i cant just 'plug in' as verification of change.

again, thanks for the help. I will look around to see if anyone on my floor has a router they arent using.

Furthermore, I am not looking to circumvent 'valid protections' that my school has set, i have been unfairly pegged as an 'illegal downloader' by my schools network admin, and just want to have use of the internet access i pay room and board for.

thanks

[ghporter]

How long have they banned you? Can't you show that you were not violating their rules and get reinstated? And if the ban is implemented so that it "shuts it down automatically after about 1-2 hours of use," why not submit your homework FIRST?

I'm really having a hard time figuring out the entire situation here. If you aren't violating the rules, you should be able to show that and get someone above that admin to reverse that decision. Or is it that your bandwidth usage itself is the problem? Telling us what school you're at would be helpful-they usually have ALL their policies available online for all to review.

[abbaZaba]

at my university, if you go over the 2GB limit in a week, you get limited to 56k no matter what. there is no chance of getting the limit lifted. and if you accumulate 3 in a semester, you get 56k for the rest of the semester, no questions asked. the network admins don't care if you have a valid reason. here, if you exceed it, you get punished no matter what. there is an appeal board, but the policy thing basically said it's incredibly difficult to get reinstated. oh and 4 violations in a semester, you get your internet taken away. however, after 3 violations, you get set at 56k, so I imagine it would be pretty hard to go over 2GB in a week with 56k.

[brokenjago]

If you just need it to submit homework, what's wrong with 56k?

[Slick519]

i went and submitted the paperwork today, but last time this happened, it took me a full week to get my internet back. At my school, there is no bandwidth limit, but they look for and tag "suspicious activity," which my ftp has flagged before

when they shut our internet off, they literally kill it-- your computer gets no access from any port on campus. Other than homework, i of course use the internet for pleasure, like you all. I am simply looking to circumvent an injustice in the system.

It is very confusing to me why i need to plead my case to get help from the members of this forum. I understand the initial hesitation, but i made it clear that i had no malicious or illegal intentions from my second post on.

If nobody is able to help me, let there be no more replies. But if you know my problem and are able to help me, please do! There is nothing worse than being self righteous for no other purpose other than make yourself judge, and put yourself in a position of power. that is just immature and petty.

thank you,
Peter

[ghporter]

1) Seek redress for your "injustice" through the appropriate channels, not the Internet. Go to your advisor, dean, whomever, and state your case.

2) A good suggestion HAS been made: buy an inexpensive wired router-almost all of which will let you report whatever MAC address you care to. It's not terribly portable, but it can allow you to submit your homework in a timely manner. I bought a router once, on sale, that wound up costing me all of $8.41 after rebate. ANY college student can afford that!

3) You "have to plead your case" because a lot of us understand that this sort of issue does not come up (at least initially for the school) innocently. Your particular case may be 100% innocent, but your predecessors (at your school and every school) took such horrible advantage that all schools MUST take action to keep from being sued (yes they are sued) by the RIAA, MPAA, and who knows whom else. We're also cynical because while you say your downloads have all been "legal," we have no way to know that. And downloading every conceivable distro of Linux, while legal, could bog down a whole school's bandwidth. In other words, 25 year old former students are the ones who are making your problems, not us, and we're a tough crowd. It's possible that any advice that actually allows you to spoof your MAC might get you into a lot of trouble, and these forums aren't here to help people get into trouble.

Finally, I have corporate computer security experience (years and years of it), and it is BAD for a school to allow ANY peer to peer traffic-it breeds both a disregard for the legal rights of others and an attitude that "nothing bad can happen" which is patently false. There are any number of Windows-aimed exploits that exist either as payload or P2P client applications. And while you're using a Mac (apparently), that doesn't guarantee that you won't get hold of one of these bad things and pass it on INSIDE the school's protections. Do you have any idea how much a big, direct Internet connection costs? And what kind of research goes on at your school? It could be stopped or (much worse) compromised by "innocent" traffic and its unintended side effects. I have further been a college teacher and counselor, and the ONLY way a student can achieve personal mastery is to take responsibility and control of his actions. GO TO YOUR ADVISER and explain the problem. There may be nothing he or she can do, or he or she may be able to at least present some background on what rules are in place. OR (I like this one) it's possible that the network admin is acting without the full knowledge of the faculty and administration and the only way they might discover this is by a student reporting the issue.

Stand up, take the advice you've received, and be in charge of your life. But don't expect anyone here to help you get into trouble. Ok?

[mduell]

I suggest reading the Wikipedia's page on MAC addresses.

[macintologist]

Why not run Windows (or Linux) within Parallels because it has its own MAC address if you used bridged ethernet.

My school gives you an IP based on your MAC address and each IP address is assigned its own bandwidth limits, so I "get around" the limit by downloading things in Windows in Parallels AND on my Mac at the same time. You could use this technique to share the bandwidth limit between your Parallels environment and your normal Mac environment. Give that a shot as a quick fix and for long term usage.

Another thing you can do is figure out what the DNS server IP is (to find it try opening the Network Utility and type in your own IP address in the Lookup tab or do that on a friend's Mac) and enter that in your Network preferences under DNS Servers. That will let you get around any kind of registration processes. I do that at my school because they limit us to 3 registrations and I need more than that.

Mods, if you don't like this post, feel free to delete it.

-Always happy to help