That address is inserted into the data packets that the network software stack sends out. The MAC address is only significant on the LAN to which a device is connected, and it is not used or retained in the data stream once packets leave that network.Īny piece of internet software, such as a web browser, directs data to a destination on the internet using the destination's IP address. This is the primary difference between a MAC address and IP address, and it affects how they differ in their number of bits, address assignment and interactions.

global identification Ī MAC address is responsible for local identification and an IP address for global identification. Some of the main differences between a MAC address and an IP address include the following:

IP address: What's the difference?īoth MAC addresses and IP addresses are meant to identify a network device, but in different ways. Then, to show the current MAC address: macchanger -s wlan0Īlso, you may want to look into the 'pretend to be a burned in address' -bia option.įinally, I'm not sure how your IPV6 address will be impacted so that may be something you might want to pay attention to.Ī/cgit/collab-maint/macchanger.MAC address vs. To set the MAC address of wlan0 to 00:11:22:33:44:55, run the following commands: sudo ifconfig wlan0 down Again, for testing purposes here, I have this set to ENABLE_ON_POST_UP_DOWN=false. This option can be changed or set by editing the file /etc/default/macchanger, setting to ENABLE_ON_POST_UP_DOWN=true or ENABLE_ON_POST_UP_DOWN=false. There is no guarantee the real MAC address will not be leaked. You can choose yes or no.įor testing purposes, I have selected no, however, you may find this option useful. You may be asked if you want to run automatically. Next, run the following commands to install macchanger macchanger is a command line tool developed for the purpose of changing your mac address: sudo apt-get update First, change everything back to default so that everything is in working order.

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