How to Change your MAC Address with Ease

Media Access Control (MAC) address is a unique set of identification hard coded into every network interface card (NIC) of a computer system, mostly in the ethernet cards or the wi-fi cards. The MAC address is a six-byte number or a 12 digit hexadecimal number, uniquely used to identify a computer on a network. This code is written into the network card and cannot be changed. However, it may be spoofed or portrayed as something else or someone else on a specified network. The varied ways to change a computer’s identity is difficult. But there are simpler ways to change your MAC address, ways which can be taken by the common consumers.

The primary reason one would want to change one’s MAC address is to bypass some security setups or firewall. Sometimes, the firewall of a router may not allow certain computers with said MAC addresses to access the network. In such cases, you may spoof or change your MAC address to access such network. In other cases, only a selected group of computers may have access to a specific network. In such a case, you may change your MAC address to impersonate the ‘allowed’ computer and gain access to the restricted network.

FOLLOW THE BELOW STEPS

1. Click on Start, then Control Panel and then Networks Connections: Your networks window will be open now. Now, right click on a network connection and click on properties. You may want to go t the general tab and press configure. There, under the advanced tab, you’ll find a list of options. Select ‘Locally Administered Address’. The process would be at ‘Not Valued’ and above would be an empty area of enter a new value. Here, enter the 12 digit new MAC address of your choice and select save. Make sure you do not put any dashes in between.

2. You save the data and then restart your computer or laptop, so that changes may be effected.

3. After restart, run ipconfig/all. You should find your MAC address changed to your given identity.

(Please note that, this process is relevant for people using Windows server and Windows XP. In case you’re using a later version of windows, go into Network and Connections and then Manually change Adapter Settings. You should land up at the required page.)

The changing of MAC address is not simple anymore. With newer and improved operating system, the security has also been ramped up. In case you fail to make any changes to the MAC address, try the various software available in the market. These software may use the registry files of other methods to spoof or change the MAC address of a computer on a network. Of course, it comes for a price. Go through the number of soft wares, find the other ancillary features and pick the one which is most suited to your ways. Lastly, a point to note, changing MAC address is only a temporary process and you should always revert back to the original settings after your work is done. And do all this at your own risk.