How to permanently change MAC ID or Address

[Kylie]

Hello~

 

I'm trying to figure out how I can change my Physical computer hardware ID or MAC Address.

I do not know what part holds this information or if a simple Re-instal of windows could change it.

I do not know if there is a permanent way or method to change the MAC Address.

I also do not know if all of these are the same: Mac Address, Mac ID, Physical Address, Hardware ID.

 

 

It's a long story as to why I need to figure this out but I'll try and sum it up here.

I love warframe and made a bad purchase for steam packs off of Kinguin and I was marked as a Plat seller by Digital Extremes.

I went through the process of elimination and determined that they banned my computers Physical address or Mac Address.
( PS4 and Xbox 1 are safe and unbaned 5 months post-ban with no VPN) While my computer on a VPN and even with a Registry edit physical address Change, I was still banned after a month.

 

I need to know either if there is a way to permanently change my MAC address, Or I need to know what Part/s I need to replace so I can play again.

[Oshino Shinobu]

You can spoof your MAC address, but it's called a Physical address/hardware address because it's "burned" into the hardware during manufacture. It's often stored in read-only memory on the NIC. It can be changed on some NICs, but it's designed to not be changed.

 

Easiest solution is to buy a new NIC, either PCI or USB. You'll have a different MAC address that way and won't have to deal with spoofing and such.

[Kylie]

1 minute ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

You can spoof your MAC address, but it's called a Physical address/hardware address because it's "burned" into the hardware during manufacture. It's often stored in read-only memory on the NIC. It can be changed on some NICs, but it's designed to not be changed.

 

Easiest solution is to buy a new NIC, either PCI or USB. You'll have a different MAC address that way and won't have to deal with spoofing and such.

Whats a NIC? Would that be the Ethernet adapter/port on my Motherboard?

[Oshino Shinobu]

Just now, Kylie said:

Whats a NIC? Would that be the Ethernet adapter/port on my Motherboard?

Network Interface Card. It's any network interface, so the ethernet port on your motherboard counts as one.

 

Each NIC has a unique MAC address, so a new one would solve the issue if you are banned based on your MAC address.

[Kylie]

2 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Network Interface Card. It's any network interface, so the ethernet port on your motherboard counts as one.

 

Each NIC has a unique MAC address, so a new one would solve the issue if you are banned based on your MAC address.

Got it. So If I have a PCIE slot free I can just get a decent NIC for that then. Beats buying a new MB.

Windows update I think reset my registry edit and that's how I got banned last time.

Consoles are still perfectly fine so I'm almost certain it's MAC Address based.

[Oshino Shinobu]

Just now, Kylie said:

Got it. So If I have a PCIE slot free I can just get a decent NIC for that then. Beats buying a new MB.

Windows update I think reset my registry edit and that's how I got banned last time.

Consoles are still perfectly fine so I'm almost certain it's MAC Address based.

Yep, you can get a decent one for around $20

[Kylie]

Just now, Oshino Shinobu said:

Yep, you can get a decent one for around $20

Any recommendations?  I use a wire, and have Gigabit internet.

[Oshino Shinobu]

2 minutes ago, Kylie said:

Any recommendations?  I use a wire, and have Gigabit internet.

I'd personally suggest something from Intel. Ones from the likes of TP-Link, Asus and Startech are fine, but I try to go for Intel as they tend to have the widest support in terms of drivers. 

 

I'd suggest an Intel PWLA8391GTBLK. They're on Amazon for around $27.

 

There's also the TP-Link TG-3468 for $15

[Kylie]

1 minute ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

I'd personally suggest something from Intel. Ones from the likes of TP-Link, Asus and Startech are fine, but I try to go for Intel as they tend to have the widest support in terms of drivers. 

 

I'd suggest an Intel PWLA8391GTBLK. They're on Amazon for around $27.

 

There's also the TP-Link TG-3468 for $15

Thanks again! Really hope this will help.

[mariushm]

You may not have to buy a new network card.

 

Go in Device Manager and scroll down to your network card and hit Properties.

In the Advanced Tab, you may see an entry which says Network Address or something like that  - this is Windows 7, may be slightly different in Windows 10:

 

 

To change your network address, you simply have to click on the radio button near the text box and then enter the new address without any dashes, just numbers and letters.

 

You can figure out your current network address from a command prompt.

Open CMD and type there  ipconfig /all  and you'll get something like what's below.

Find the network card with the same name as yours in the list, and then look for the Network address line and that's your network address.

In my case, it's 18-D6-C7-05-D7-0C .... so if I want to I can change a number and enter it in that box.

For example, I can enter 18D6C705D70D and then I have the network address of another network card that was manufactured right after mine was done. Probably was shipped in the same box of 50-100 network cards to the store where I bought it from, so it could be another network card in the same town or country as me.

 

The first three sets 18-D6-C7 are the signature of the company that makes the card, in this case TP-Link ... better not change those, in case the software has some stupid checks. You can see a list of vendors here if you're curious, if you search for 18D6C7 in that list you'll find TP-Link listed...  https://gist.github.com/aallan/b4bb86db86079509e6159810ae9bd3e4

 

Once you fill that text box (make sure it's 6 sets of two letters or numbers, hexadecimal so only 0..9 and A..F allowed) , hit OK, and restart your PC. Once the system reboots, the network card will report the new MAC address.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kylie]

1 hour ago, mariushm said:

 

Late reply. Does this change act permanently as in For example, if I were to re-instal windows would it retain the last Mac address entered?

 

As I mentioned My issue seemed to be that Windows update disabled my Registry edit and I didn't notice till AFTER I was banned again.

 

 

I have an intel NIC apparently and was easily able to find the setting to change though! so that's good.

[mariushm]

yes, the mac address should be stored in a chip on the network card.

If you reinstall the operating system and the network drivers, the mac address will remain the same as it's read from the network card chip. You can repeat the mac address change as many times as you wish... well, ok, if you're nitpicking, the memory is good for maybe 100k writes... updating the mac address a few times won't affect anything.

 

You don't need registry edit to change this mac address, not sure why you mention it.

 

You could just write down the network address on a piece of paper and run ipconfig /all after a reinstall or whenever and confirm it's the same.

[Kylie]

2 minutes ago, mariushm said:

yes, the mac address should be stored in a chip on the network card.

If you reinstall the operating system and the network drivers, the mac address will remain the same as it's read from the network card chip. You can repeat the mac address change as many times as you wish... well, ok, if you're nitpicking, the memory is good for maybe 100k writes... updating the mac address a few times won't affect anything.

 

You don't need registry edit to change this mac address, not sure why you mention it.

 

You could just write down the network address on a piece of paper and run ipconfig /all after a reinstall or whenever and confirm it's the same.

Awesome! I didn't know this. This is great news for me.

I'm moving in a few months so when I do I'll make this change as I'll likely wipe my system. Hopefully I can start playing my favorite game again without issues.