Almost every PC user nowadays is also a concurrent user of the Internet. Situations in life are different, and sometimes we need to find out not only our IP address, subnet mask, gateway and the like, but such a characteristic of a network card as its mac address.
Instructions
Step 1
First, let's define what a mac address is. Roughly speaking, this is the identification number of the network card, which makes it possible to uniquely distinguish it from other cards of a similar architecture. However, it should be remembered that not all network protocols use poppy addresses and globally uniqueness of these addresses is not always needed. For example, on the local network, the address must be unique, but within the Internet, the address can be repeated. You can find out your Mac using console commands.
Step 2
The method for invoking the console is different for each operating system. For Windows Xp it is "Start" - "Run" - "cmd", for Linux OS usually use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + Alt + F1 or Ctrl + Alt + F2, etc. (up to Ctrl + Alt + F6).
Step 3
In order for the network interface to apply.
For Linux, on the command line, you need to type the following code - ifconfig -a | grep HWaddr.
Step 4
Mac OS X - ifconfig, or in System Preferences> Network> select connection> Advanced> Ethernet> Ethernet ID.
Step 5
There is an opinion that the poppy address is hardcoded into the network card's circuits and cannot be changed in any way programmatically. This statement is only partly true, since it is performed only for systems with increased security requirements, for example, for telecommunications.
Step 6
In other cases, this address can be easily changed programmatically. This is possible because the value specified through the driver is more important than the one wired into the board.
Step 7
To change the mac address in Windows, do the following.
Go to "Start" - "Control Panel" - "Network Connections" - select the required connection - right-click - "Properties" - "Configure" - "Advanced" tab.
In the list of properties, we are looking for the Network Address parameter.
In the appeared field "Value" enter the required value.
Step 8
The installed address can be checked using the ipconfig / all command.
Step 9
In Linux, the mac address is changed by the following command from the root user:
# ifconfig ethN hw ether
where ethN is the name of the network interface.
