Forum

Re: mac address discussion
 

Technically, that is true. But MAC addresses were designed for adapters such as Bluetooth radios or wifi radios. The 3g/4g radio uses a different identifier, the IMEI, which is not easily changed or spoofed, due to different requirements for cellular data. Repeat, the data radio in a phone does NOT have what you think of as a MAC address. The wifi and Bluetooth radios do, but that is not what we were talking about, since dongles don't have Bluetooth and their wifi radio is on the opposite end of the equation.

Re: mac address discussion
 

Not following.

The dongle has to use item X ( whatever it gets called to connect to the internet. Item X has the mac address so that enables the dongle to work.

Does this therefore mean there are two mac addresses here if you say the dongle has its own mac address?

Re: mac address discussion
 

Mac address of the adapter you use is visible to websites. So that would be your wifi card on your laptop. Unsure if a MAC address is generated when tethering via USB to a phone; I believe it is.

For anyone who believes that software must be downloaded to your PC to view your MAC address, just visit a local Starbucks, and your MAC address will be right there in the dynamic URL for the login page.

Re: mac address discussion
 

A dongle is just a term used for a small device that connects to a computer (mostly)

"A dongle is a small piece of hardware that attaches to computer, TV, or other electronic device, and that, when attached, enables additional functions such as copy protection, audio, video, games, data, or other services. These services are available only when the dongle is attached." Dongle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not all dongles are for internet purposes so those won't have a MAC address associated with them.. however some dongles such as wireless broadband dongles do have MAC addresses. You can find this by looking up the hardware information via command prompt.. ipconfig /all

Now this will also show your other devices on your PC that have associated MAC addresses such as your network card, maybe a connecting printer..

Any device that connects to the internet will have it's own MAC address.. without one it can't join a network.

So in regards wireless broadband dongles.. yes they have their own MAC address.. so do the devices they're connected to (PC/ MAC).

Re: mac address discussion
 

aspkin,

while that is technically true, and dongles can have MAC addresses per se because they have wifi radios, these addresses are invisible to outside servers because they are not the top level network device connected to the outside server. That is your network adapter on your machine, the only device whose MAC address can be seen to a outside server. That is for the wifi part of the dongle. The 3G/4G part of the dongle works on a different principle and does not have a MAC address, just the hidden the IMEI. The IMEI isn't really like a MAC address because it's supposed to be a hardwired, locked ID used to identify the device on the Internet overall, and not just locally on a network. Kind of like your car's VIN number. The MAC address is more like the serial number of the ECU and is visible to devices that need to communicate with the computer, like the chip in your car's radio-equipped wireless key. Not a perfect analogy but hopefully it casts some light on this.

Re: mac address discussion
 

If the dongle is a wireless network adapter and you're using it to connect to a wireless router.. that's the MAC address that is seen by the router. If that makes sense.

Regardless I wasn't talking about what MAC addresses could or could not be seen. I was answering GB's question.

Re: mac address discussion
 

Yes, that's true aspkin.

But outside sites can only see the laptop or desktop adapter's MAC, ie, the top level adapter. Since it's invisible, I try not to get into dongle MAC addresses since tomorrow a dozen posts will pop up asking how to spoof the dongle MAC.

Re: mac address discussion
 

I hope this was not meant for me.

I will assume by "mobile phone", you meant a "smartphone".

I use Samsung Galaxy S4; it has two Mac Addresses.

If you go to Settings --> More --> About Device --> Status, you get Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Mac Addresses.

Download the app IPView, it will show the Local IP, WAN IP, IMEI and Mac Address.

If you make your S4 a hotspot (Same as dongle), you also get all the above with a different WAN IP.

Note that, every dongle has an IMEI like a smartphone. The internet connectivity is either by 3G/3G/LTE, which is a network connectivity. The ISP identifies your device like a modem using the IMEI to allow that connection back to their network. The rest of the connection completes the DORA process of acquiring the IP address.

Re: mac address discussion
 

Half of them don't used/had IMEI :) because they are using CDMA technology and used MEID/ESN :)

Re: mac address discussion
 

Hi Ovidiu,

So you're saying that Amazon can technically see the MAC address of our computer/laptop? But definitely can't see the MAC address of the dongle, so there are no identifying marks for Amazon to find out about the dongle (Except ip address), correct? What about the other options aside from a dongle? Can amazon see the MAC address of your modem if directly connected via ethernet? Or what about a wireless router setup?

And I take it you spoof your MAC address for the laptop/computer for each of your own amazon accounts?

Thanks

Re: mac address discussion
 

I'd suggest you take your own advice there :clap:

Not sure how many times I've said it but every device with a network interface/ that connect to the Internet has to have a MAC address. Even printers have a MAC address.

It is not tracked by Amazon. The amount of experts asserting with authority that dongles do not have a MAC address is rather concerning.

Unless you are in the building next door to Amazon or you download some software that gives out your MAC address you do not need to be concerned about any of this. YET!!!

However with new ip standards being brought in there is a possibility it could be tracked in the future. But I'm sure we will be the first to find out if and when it does start happening.

Re: mac address discussion
 

If MAC addresses concern you, why not just use something like SMAC to spoof them? It seems to me that it would be a reasonable step to take. There has been controversy based on what Amazon or anyone else can and cannot see, but spoofing the MAC addresses can't hurt. Better safe than sorry, right?

Re: mac address discussion
 

The thing is changing MAC address is probably the most difficult thing to do for a newby and its completely pointless. I've never changed it and had no problems.

Re: mac address discussion
 

Thanks to you barrycruan, I havent made efforts to worry about MAC