Change MAC Address with PowerShell of a Wireless Adapter

As I mentioned in my post a week ago, I’m commuting each day and there is a 200MB Quota on the Wireless Network. Luckily it’s based on the MAC Address of the WiFi Card, so it’s quite easy to get another 200MB Quota if you want 😉

wifi1

Here is my small powershell script that automatically Releases the IP Address, set’s a new random MAC Address and Re-Connects to the SSID, all done in a second or two.
Yay! Another 200MB Quota to burn.

function random-mac {   
    $mac = "02"
    while ($mac.length -lt 12) 
	{ 
		$mac += "{0:X}" -f $(get-random -min 0 -max 16) 
	} 
		
    $Delimiter = "-"
		for ($i = 0 ; $i -le 10 ; $i += 2) 
		{ $newmac += $mac.substring($i,2) + $Delimiter }
		$setmac = $newmac.substring(0,$($newmac.length - $Delimiter.length)) 
 $setmac
}


function disconnect-wifi { 
    $CurrentSSID = (& netsh wlan show profiles | Select-String 'Current User Profile' | Foreach-Object {$_.ToString()}).replace("    Current User Profile : ","$null")
    Write-Host "Current WLAN SSID: $CurrentSSID"  -ForegroundColor Yellow

    $WIFI = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration | Where { $_.IpEnabled -eq $true -and $_.DhcpEnabled -eq $true}
    Write-Host "Releasing IP addresses:" ($WIFI.IPAddress | select -first 1)  -ForegroundColor Yellow 
    $WIFI.ReleaseDHCPLease() | out-Null 

    # Make sure the Release have happened, else it give it 2 sec extra. 
    $WIFI = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration | Where { $_.IpEnabled -eq $true -and $_.DhcpEnabled -eq $true} 
    if ($WIFI.DefaultIPGateway -ne $Null) { 
    Write-Output "Release of IP Address had not completed, waiting 1 Seconds" 
    sleep -Seconds 2
    }

    Write-Host "Disconnecting from WiFi" -ForegroundColor Yellow 
    & netsh wlan disconnect | Out-Null
} 


function new-wifimac ($wifiadapter, $ssid, $newmac){ 

#    Write-Output "Wifi AdapterName: $wifiadapter" 
#    Write-Output "SSID: $ssid" 
#    Write-Output "New MAC Address to set: $newmac" 

    $oldmac = (Get-NetAdapter -Name $wifiadapter).MACAddress 
    Write-Output "OLD MAC Address: $oldmac" 

    if ($oldmac -like $newmac) {
        Write-Host "Old MAC and New MAC are identical, generating a new MAC Address" -ForegroundColor Red
        $newmac = random-mac
        Write-Output "New MAC Address to set: $newmac" 
        }

    Get-NetAdapter -Name $wifiadapter | Set-NetAdapter -MACAddress $newmac -Confirm:$false
    Get-NetAdapter -Name $wifiadapter | Disable-NetAdapter -Confirm:$false
    Get-NetAdapter -Name $wifiadapter | Enable-NetAdapter -Confirm:$false
    $currentmac = (Get-NetAdapter -Name $wifiadapter).MACAddress 
    Write-Output "NEW MAC Address: $currentmac" 

    Write-Host "Connecting to SSID: $ssid" -ForegroundColor Yellow 
    & netsh wlan connect name=$ssid ssid=$ssid

    $NoIP = 0
    Do { 
        $WIFI = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration | Where { $_.IpEnabled -eq $true -and $_.DhcpEnabled -eq $true}
        
        if ($WIFI.DefaultIPGateway -ne $null) { 
            $NoIP = 5
        }
        else {
            sleep -Seconds 2 
            Write-Host "Waiting for IP Address" 
            $NoIP += 1
        }
    } While ($NoIP -lt 5) 
    Write-Host "New IP addresses" ($WIFI.IPAddress | select -first 1)  -ForegroundColor Yellow 
}


function test-wifi ($probe){ 
    if (Test-NetConnection -ComputerName $probe -CommonTCPPort HTTP -InformationLevel Quiet) { 
        $result = "Working" 
    } 
    else { 
        $result = "NotWorking" 
    }
$result 
}


# Specify $SSID manually 
# $ssid = 'SSID-to-Connect-to' 
# 
# Or use the currently used SSID to reconnect to. 
$ssid = (& netsh wlan show interfaces | Select-String ' SSID ' | Foreach-Object {$_.ToString()}).replace("    SSID                   : ","$null")

# Specify WLAN Adapter Name Manually 
# $wifiadapter = 'vEthernet (External Wi-Fi)'
# 
# Or Try to identify the Wi-Fi Adapter 
$wifiadapter = (Get-NetAdapter | where Status -EQ "Up" | where MediaType -EQ "802.3" | where MacAddress -EQ (Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration | Where { $_.IpEnabled -eq $true -and $_.DhcpEnabled -eq $true} | select *).MACAddress.replace(":","-")).Name

# Specify a MAC Address manually
# $newmac = "02-F4-D7-B2-FE-D8"
#
# Or generate a new Random MAC Address
$newmac = random-mac

disconnect-wifi
new-wifimac -wifiadapter $wifiadapter -ssid $ssid -newmac $newmac 
test-wifi -probe www.msftncsi.com

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function random-mac {

$mac = "02"

while ($mac.length -lt 12)

{

$mac += "{0:X}" -f $(get-random -min 0 -max 16)

}

$Delimiter = "-"

for ($i = 0 ; $i -le 10 ; $i += 2)

{ $newmac += $mac.substring($i,2) + $Delimiter }

$setmac = $newmac.substring(0,$($newmac.length - $Delimiter.length))

$setmac

}

function disconnect-wifi {

$CurrentSSID = (& netsh wlan show profiles | Select-String 'Current User Profile' | Foreach-Object {$_.ToString()}).replace(" Current User Profile : ","$null")

Write-Host "Current WLAN SSID: $CurrentSSID" -ForegroundColor Yellow

$WIFI = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration | Where { $_.IpEnabled -eq $true -and $_.DhcpEnabled -eq $true}

Write-Host "Releasing IP addresses:" ($WIFI.IPAddress | select -first 1) -ForegroundColor Yellow

$WIFI.ReleaseDHCPLease() | out-Null

# Make sure the Release have happened, else it give it 2 sec extra.

$WIFI = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration | Where { $_.IpEnabled -eq $true -and $_.DhcpEnabled -eq $true}

if ($WIFI.DefaultIPGateway -ne $Null) {

Write-Output "Release of IP Address had not completed, waiting 1 Seconds"

sleep -Seconds 2

}

Write-Host "Disconnecting from WiFi" -ForegroundColor Yellow

& netsh wlan disconnect | Out-Null

}

function new-wifimac ($wifiadapter, $ssid, $newmac){

# Write-Output "Wifi AdapterName: $wifiadapter"

# Write-Output "SSID: $ssid"

# Write-Output "New MAC Address to set: $newmac"

$oldmac = (Get-NetAdapter -Name $wifiadapter).MACAddress

Write-Output "OLD MAC Address: $oldmac"

if ($oldmac -like $newmac) {

Write-Host "Old MAC and New MAC are identical, generating a new MAC Address" -ForegroundColor Red

$newmac = random-mac

Write-Output "New MAC Address to set: $newmac"

}

Get-NetAdapter -Name $wifiadapter | Set-NetAdapter -MACAddress $newmac -Confirm:$false

Get-NetAdapter -Name $wifiadapter | Disable-NetAdapter -Confirm:$false

Get-NetAdapter -Name $wifiadapter | Enable-NetAdapter -Confirm:$false

$currentmac = (Get-NetAdapter -Name $wifiadapter).MACAddress

Write-Output "NEW MAC Address: $currentmac"

Write-Host "Connecting to SSID: $ssid" -ForegroundColor Yellow

& netsh wlan connect name=$ssid ssid=$ssid

$NoIP = 0

Do {

$WIFI = Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration | Where { $_.IpEnabled -eq $true -and $_.DhcpEnabled -eq $true}

if ($WIFI.DefaultIPGateway -ne $null) {

$NoIP = 5

}

else {

sleep -Seconds 2

Write-Host "Waiting for IP Address"

$NoIP += 1

}

} While ($NoIP -lt 5)

Write-Host "New IP addresses" ($WIFI.IPAddress | select -first 1) -ForegroundColor Yellow

}

function test-wifi ($probe){

if (Test-NetConnection -ComputerName $probe -CommonTCPPort HTTP -InformationLevel Quiet) {

$result = "Working"

}

else {

$result = "NotWorking"

}

$result

}

# Specify $SSID manually

# $ssid = 'SSID-to-Connect-to'

# Or use the currently used SSID to reconnect to.

$ssid = (& netsh wlan show interfaces | Select-String ' SSID ' | Foreach-Object {$_.ToString()}).replace(" SSID : ","$null")

# Specify WLAN Adapter Name Manually

# $wifiadapter = 'vEthernet (External Wi-Fi)'

# Or Try to identify the Wi-Fi Adapter

$wifiadapter = (Get-NetAdapter | where Status -EQ "Up" | where MediaType -EQ "802.3" | where MacAddress -EQ (Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration | Where { $_.IpEnabled -eq $true -and $_.DhcpEnabled -eq $true} | select *).MACAddress.replace(":","-")).Name

# Specify a MAC Address manually

# $newmac = "02-F4-D7-B2-FE-D8"

# Or generate a new Random MAC Address

$newmac = random-mac

disconnect-wifi

new-wifimac -wifiadapter $wifiadapter -ssid $ssid -newmac $newmac

test-wifi -probe www.msftncsi.com

I’m using a Window 10 client with Hyper-V, and I’ve created a Virtual NIC for the WiFi adapter, that’s why it’s called ‘vEthernet (External Wi-Fi)’. But you should be able to use the script with a normal WiFi Adapter too.

I’m using a Virtual WiFi Adapter, to be able to give my Virtual Machines access to internet also when I’m without a LAN.

Here is the script for creating a Virtual WiFi NIC;

Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName *hyper-v*all | Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature –Online -NoRestart -Verbose

Get-NetAdapter -Name "Wi-Fi" | New-VMSwitch -Name "Uplink Switch WiFi" -Verbose -AllowManagementOS:$false -MinimumBandwidthMode Weight -ComputerName $ENV:COMPUTERNAME
sleep -Seconds 5
Add-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -SwitchName "Uplink Switch WiFi" -Name "External Wi-Fi" -verbose -ComputerName $ENV:COMPUTERNAME
Set-VMnetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name "External Wi-Fi" -MinimumBandwidthWeight 20 -verbose -ComputerName $ENV:COMPUTERNAME

Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName *hyper-v*all | Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature –Online -NoRestart -Verbose

Get-NetAdapter -Name "Wi-Fi" | New-VMSwitch -Name "Uplink Switch WiFi" -Verbose -AllowManagementOS:$false -MinimumBandwidthMode Weight -ComputerName $ENV:COMPUTERNAME

sleep -Seconds 5

Add-VMNetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -SwitchName "Uplink Switch WiFi" -Name "External Wi-Fi" -verbose -ComputerName $ENV:COMPUTERNAME

Set-VMnetworkAdapter -ManagementOS -Name "External Wi-Fi" -MinimumBandwidthWeight 20 -verbose -ComputerName $ENV:COMPUTERNAME

7 thoughts on “Change MAC Address with PowerShell of a Wireless Adapter”

Markus Lassfolk says:

2017-07-04 at 12:03

Please note that the “” got screwed up with the font here. So don’t copy and paste from the comment section, do the change manually in your script or you will get some problems.
Markus Lassfolk says:

2017-07-04 at 12:02

Just enter the MAC you would like to use on line 02 like this;

function random-mac {
$mac = “02BBBBBB”
while ($mac.length -lt 12)
{
$mac += “{0:X}” -f $(get-random -min 0 -max 16)
}

$Delimiter = “-”
for ($i = 0 ; $i -le 10 ; $i += 2)
{ $newmac += $mac.substring($i,2) + $Delimiter }
$setmac = $newmac.substring(0,$($newmac.length – $Delimiter.length))
$setmac
}

It will add the XX XX random numbers on top of that.
Justin Hickey says:

2017-06-16 at 20:28

Thanks. Thats pretty cool. I want to use this to define a more specific range of mac addresses that I can pre-authorize during a PXE build process. So I’d like to pick from a pool starting with 02-BB-BB-BB-XX-XX . (x’s obviously being the randomized chars) How would I do that ?
Pingback: Addition to new-wifimac address script | A Geeks World
Markus Lassfolk says:

2016-05-27 at 15:40

I will add a feature to revert back to the original address.
Mikhoul (@Mikhoul) says:

2016-04-11 at 05:03

How do you retrieve your original MAC after you use the script ?

Do you know an easy way to run the script automatically each XX minutes, like at a coffee shop where the Internet limit is 15 minutes, having it to change MAC each 13 minutes would be useful 😉

Regards !
David Sjölund says:

2016-03-18 at 12:16

Skönt life hack 🙂

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7 thoughts on “Change MAC Address with PowerShell of a Wireless Adapter”

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