(Free, limited Wi-Fi may also be tracked using browser cookies or an account system.) Change your MAC address and you could get more Wi-Fi.
For example, an airport Wi-Fi network might offer a free 30 minutes and then ban your MAC address from receiving more Wi-Fi.
Your computer sends the request to your router, which then sends it out onto the Internet. The web address you type gets translated to the IP address of the server. When a browser on your computer needs to grab a web page from a server on the Internet, for example, that request passes down through several layers of the TCP/IP protocol. What MAC Addresses Are Used ForĪt the lowest networking level, network interfaces attached to a network use MAC addresses to communicate with one another. These MAC addresses-sometimes referred to as physical or hardware addresses-are assigned in the factory, but you can usually change the addresses in software. Each network interface connected to your network-whether it’s your router, wireless device, or network card in your computer-has a unique media access control (MAC) address.