Re: Interesting WIFI MAC address problem?

"Bash" <Bash.2sshcv@no-mx.wirelessforums.org> wrote in message
news:Bash.2sshcv@no-mx.wirelessforums.org...
>
> I am running NetStumber to see what I can pick up locally. It picks up
> WIFI enabled mobile phones and other like equipment as they pass my
> machine as well as displaying fixed Peer and AP's.
>
> Interestingly I noticed lots of Peer devices with the same name (no
> longer within range) with different MAC addresses. After some
> investigation I found that these Peer devices (what ever they were)
> seem to be the same device each time they come into range of
> NetStumbler and yet report a different MAC address each time.

How did you determine they were the same device.
As for the different Mac Addresses, changing the Mac is not a big deal.

>
> I thought you required a fixed MAC address for WIFI? This helps
> security by MAC filtering.

While MAC filtering is nice and easy, and would lead one to believe it is a
good solution, because of the fact that MAC addresses can be changed, and
that MAC addresses are sent in the clear, it is not a very good security
tool.
For a home network just allowing your own Mac addresses is a good start, in
any kind of public network, mac filtering is easily subverted.

> Why are these devices changing MAC address
> each time I see them? How are they doing it and why? Anyone ever seen
> this before or know why?
>
>
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