Which MAC is Which?

I connect ot my ancient DSL in bridged mode, which means I am authenticated via the MAC address of the NIC which the telco installed when I got the service. I want, however, to use the WAN side MAC of the router I now use, rather than having to spoof the MAC of the NIC, which is in a machine I no longer use-- all my current PCs have onboard NICs, so there's no use for the original NIC in any current machine.

My question is this: The (Netgear) router has two MACs, one for the LAN side, and one for the WAN side. They differ by a single digit, meaning they are identical save for one ends in "06", and the other in "07". Which is which?

 

The LAN side is on the inside. All of your internal computers see this MAC. The WAN side is the one that connects to your ISP (via your DSL modem).

Log onto your router, and look under the heading (something like) "Router Status." One will say LAN Port, and the other should say (something like) "WAN Port" or "Internet Port." The latter is the one you want.

Call you ISP and tell them that your other computer "died" and you have bought a new one, so you need to give them the MAC of the "new" computer. Then give them the WAN MAC of the router. As far as they are concerned, that MAC is a PC, and they don't need to know any different.

Scott
http://www.AAApcMechanic.com

 

Unfortunately, this router-- an RO318-- doesn't have such a router status screen. However my FVS318 at work does, and it reveals the higher number is the WAN MAC.

 

You could also bring up a command prompt and type:

arp -a


Look for the ip address of your router, and that will be the LAN MAC. It will look something like this (maybe with more entries, if you have other systems on your network):


Interface: 192.168.12.101 --- 0x2
Internet Address Physical Address Type
192.168.12.1 00-09-5b-37-2b-32 dynamic


So you know the other is your WAN.

Scott
http://www.AAApcMechanic.com