Murphy Mac

Using multiple devices with paid hotel Internet access.

This weekend I used the Internet at a hotel that charged for access. I signed up using my iPod, then later tried to access the service using a laptop. The sign-on page didn’t provide a place to sign in using my name or room number - it seemed like I might be charged again if I went any further. I had never seen the particular service before, so I couldn’t tell what would happen.

I didn’t feel like calling the front desk, and chances are I wouldn’t have had much faith in whatever they told me. Sounds cold, but it’s true. The solution I found was probably faster anyway.

I assumed the hotel tracked my iPod by its MAC address. If you’re not familiar with a MAC address, it’s a unique identifier assigned to network devices like your wired Ethernet port or a wifi card. (MAC addresses are not to be confused with Macs) Some software interfaces provide a simple way to change the MAC address your device presents to the network. I didn’t see a simple way in System Preferences.

A quick Google search landed me at OS X Daily. There you’ll find the exact command to enter in Terminal to change your MAC address. You may have to tweak the command a little if you’re using multiple network interfaces on your Mac, like wired and wireless.

So, I took the MAC address of my iPod and assigned it to the laptop. I didn’t try to use both at once, and both worked just fine. As soon as the MAC was changed on the laptop it was on the Internet, without having to access any special sign-up page for the service.

At some point hotels will probably update their services to help with a situation like this, but in the meantime OS X Daily helped me out in less than two minutes. Nice.

Read | Permalink

Posted in Articles, Terminal, Mac OS X, Intermediate |