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Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
TP-Link Archer C7
Linksys WRT54GS
Linksys WRT54G v4


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Bill_MI

MVM

MAC Cloning on the LinkSys Router

Click for full size
Click for full size
What is a MAC?

MAC means Media Access Control but for our purposes it's the *hardware* or *physical* address of an ethernet device. Every ethernet device (like a network card or router gateway) has a unique ethernet address in the form 00:60:08:2A:C8:31

Why is this MAC important when I'm on the internet?

In an ethernet network a list is maintained to identify which MAC corresponds to what IP (internet protocol) address. In the case of DSL or Cable modems, it must be known what physical address gets what IP address.

Why would I want to "clone" a MAC?

Some particularly evil ISPs do not want you to have a home network and have a modem that allows only 1 MAC to talk on the internet. If you change network cards, you have to call them up to change the MAC. The LinkSys can clone the computer MAC that was originally set up for such an ISP.

"We'll tell our modems we're using the same card and they'll be none the wiser, Ollie." ...Stan Laurel if he were on the internet.

Other modems may learn the MAC for an IP only when they are RESET or power cycled. It's nice to not have to reset your modem when bypassing the LinkSys (I run this way).

How do I find the MAC I want to clone?

See 1st figure above.

Go to the computer you successfully connect with and run:
winipcfg (Win9x/ME) or
ipconfig /all (WinNT/2K).

How does the LinkSys set this clone address?

See 2nd Figure above.

Fraggboy
Just Lovin' My Bandwidth . .
Premium Member
join:2001-03-04
Las Vegas, NV

Fraggboy

Premium Member

Great info Bill.. Very easy to follow your directions..

solipsist
Premium Member
join:2000-12-09
Middle Village, NY

solipsist to Bill_MI

Premium Member

to Bill_MI
i finally know what a mac address is!
Learning8
join:2001-04-15
Scottsdale, AZ

Learning8

Member

Great job on this point!

evjj
It's Character Forming
join:2000-12-23
Los Angeles, CA

evjj to Bill_MI

Member

to Bill_MI
Thanks a lot, this should be saved and made a link so others can refer to it. GOOD JOB

t757
Universal
Premium Member
join:2000-12-28

t757 to Bill_MI

Premium Member

to Bill_MI
Good layout, nice info, thumbs up

buonadomenic
join:2000-11-13
Honolulu, HI

buonadomenic

Member

Great and very helpful info.
____________________________________________________________
Why would I want to "clone" a MAC?

Some particularly evil ISPs do not want you to have a home network and have a modem that allows only 1 MAC to talk on the internet. If you change network cards, you have to call them up to change the MAC. The LinkSys can clone the computer MAC that was originally set up for such an ISP.
____________________________________________________________

Question: how did people connect additional computers before Mac cloning was introduced with Linksys Firmware 1.30 or later? "evil ISPs"
thanks
BD

Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
TP-Link Archer C7
Linksys WRT54GS
Linksys WRT54G v4

Bill_MI

MVM

said by buonadomenica:
Question: how did people connect additional computers before Mac cloning was introduced with Linksys Firmware 1.30 or later?
Hi BD. You can delegate a PC with 2 NICs to perform the duties of the LinkSys by running proxy or NAT software. Windows has ICS (internet connection sharing) built in. There's also Winproxy, Sygate, Wingate software as examples and popular on Linux is ipchains.

My son-in-law had one of those "evil ISPs" and ran SyGate but still called often to change MACs .

By the way, there has been reports if you call in the MAC of a LinkSys (which is registered to Runtop, Inc.) these ISPs may refuse to change it.

buonadomenic
join:2000-11-13
Honolulu, HI

buonadomenic

Member

Hi Bill_Mi
thank you for the info. I have one of those evil isp's too. With the Linksys router sharing a connection has been made very easy. Yeah calling in the Mac address of the Linky would be great but as you said there have been incidents where they refused to change that address.

I hope those evil isp's will not start to sue Linksys for making Mac address cloning available in their firmware.

BD

JrC384k
join:2000-09-24
Chicago, IL

JrC384k

Member

Question: Is there something wrong with my computer if the MAC address of the card is show wrong in Windows? Windows reports the wrong MAC while the router and the card's diagnostic shows the right one. Which one should I enter in the MAC cloning, the right one or the Windows one?

Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
TP-Link Archer C7
Linksys WRT54GS
Linksys WRT54G v4

Bill_MI

MVM

said by JrC384k:
Question: Is there something wrong with my computer if the MAC address of the card is show wrong in Windows?
Good question. Here's a different way to tell the MAC of computers on your LAN...

From another computer ping the computer by IP address then use the command:
arp -a
It'll print the table of internet/physical addresses. Unfortunately it does NOT include the PC you're on.

Gee, either that or twice beats once?

EDIT: Jr, in WinIPCfg is the correct LAN card showing in that pull-down menu? If not, does selecting the LAN card make the MAC read correctly?
Bill_MI

Bill_MI to buonadomenic

MVM

to buonadomenic
said by buonadomenica:
I hope those evil isp's will not start to sue Linksys for making Mac address cloning available in their firmware.
Hi BD. I don't think that will happen but instead, this idea of controlling customer LANs simply isn't feasible anymore. I think you'll see these systems going away (I hope). Now, their scare tactic is "we don't support you if you have a network". For such bullroar be sure you can hook up 1 PC before you even call in a problem so their little tactic doesn't work.

blestina
join:2001-03-16
Berkeley, IL

blestina to Bill_MI

Member

to Bill_MI
I know at least one of the Evil ISP's!
My cable company is MediaOne/ATT Chicago land. They are pulling this crap!
I had to clone my MAC address for my Network to work.
Before they were bought out by ATT I didn't have this problem.
They have not converted us to @home yet, but they will.
Oh, and you can read the usage agreement all you want, it's not in there, I checked.
I called them up, and bitched. They said tough cookies, were the cable company and we can do what we want!
You also have to set your computer name to what they want it to be!!
blestina

blestina to Bill_MI

Member

to Bill_MI
I also noticed that they are trying to monitor your PC!!
Once I installed ZoneAlarm, I started getting all these wonderful little popups, telling me that MediaOne was scanning my PC!!! How nice...
I also got some phone calls from Tech Supt, they wanted to know why they couldn't see my PC anymore!!!
I told them to goto Hell, my PC is my business and where did they get off scanning it..
I got the same old bullshit reply, we are the cable company and we will tell you what you can do..
They also informed me that they do not support Home Networks.
That was a laugh, since the home page, says they do!!!
I have tried to contact mangement, they are unavailable.
They do not answer the phone, and no e-mail address.
How are you supposed to complain about customer service, when you can't talk to anyone, except customer service?
When everything is working, my cable service is great.
It's the other 90% of the time, I have a complaint about.

Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
TP-Link Archer C7
Linksys WRT54GS
Linksys WRT54G v4

Bill_MI

MVM

Hi Blestina. I understand your situation. Seriously, I suggest playing their game and debug your own network, that's what boards like this are for. The consequences of going against simpletons I've run into calling themselves technical support isn't worth the aggravation. Connect 1 PC when you call so their support-avoiding little tactic doesn't work.

zzees
join:2001-04-17
Englewood, CO

zzees to Bill_MI

Member

to Bill_MI
Thanks for the great info, I really dislike "Evil ISPs"
System

to Bill_MI

Anon

to Bill_MI
Just wanted to say that I followed this thread, signed up with comcast@home, installed a Linksys router, cloned my MAC address and now have 2 pcs and 2 Macs blithely accessing the internet with narry a hitch. Great speeds, fantastic convenience. This thread helped immensely.

Ian_Brooks

join:2001-04-06
UK

Ian_Brooks to Bill_MI

to Bill_MI
This is great info. I am about to set=up a linksys with an evil ISP, ans now armed with the ideas in this thread will be prepared.

Bill_MI
Bill In Michigan
MVM
join:2001-01-03
Royal Oak, MI
TP-Link Archer C7
Linksys WRT54GS
Linksys WRT54G v4

Bill_MI

MVM

Additional MAC info

I'm glad this thread was so well received. This issue comes up time and time again so here's a little more of what's been found out there.

Cable and DSL systems have a broad range of MAC issues! Here's a few more reasons to clone a MAC I've either seen for myself or have read about:

1). Every time an old Motorola CyberSurfer Cable modem connects to a new card (different MAC) it must be power cycled (or a well-hidden reset button pressed) so it can learn the new card. This was Comcast@Home in SE Michigan but also reported all over the country.

2). To get a different MAC to work, the ISP must be called and the MAC recited so they can manually enter it. Son-in-law's MediaOne in SE Michigan.

3). My Telocity X2 gateway connects with static IP from any MAC *BUT* will not give out the address by DHCP except to the MAC it bonds with. I never tried a power cycle because I want to be able to quick-switch anyway so I just cloned the MAC it wanted.

4). My former AT&T@Home in SE Michigan was an old COM21 system. It actually seemed to be able to switch MACs in mid stream then every once in a while I'd have to power cycle it. I swear, 3 MACs and it's out (or something screwy like that!).

5). A friend on the west coast told me only one of his PCs could access a DSL modem status page. This suspiciously sounds like a MAC issue. It didn't affect connectivity, just the modem's status page.

If you know of a screwy MAC issue please add it here. These modems can be screwy as heck and this cannot be all of them!!!