I live in an apartment that provides WiFi that has MAC address whitelisting with a cost per MAC address slot.

What hardware/software can I use to connect to their network and rebroadcast in a new network so that all my devices can connect but the WiFi provider only sees one MAC address connecting?

I’ve tried a WiFi range extender but it appears to be forwarding the MAC address of the my devices

To be clear, the ISP broadcasts its own SSIDs throughout the apartment block and I don’t have access to any physical network sockets

@[email protected]
link
fedilink
English
2
edit-2
2Y

To my understanding, a network switch will relay your MAC address, so it’s sounding like that is what your range extender is. You would need an actual wireless router. You could get a wireless mesh router pair, so you have both a new wifi and range extending. I’d then disable the wifi on your main router. It sounds like they make you use your ISP’s router, but it’s also worth trying to disconnect that and plugging your new router direct into the modem instead to see if you need the ISP router at all. Also, you’d need to whitelist the new device with the ISP.

Adam
creator
link
fedilink
English
12Y

To be clear, the ISP broadcasts its own SSIDs throughout the apartment block and I don’t have access to any physical network sockets

@[email protected]
link
fedilink
English
32Y

There are dirt cheap access point (one wifi one ethernet port) that can be used to convert your ISP wifi to ethernet. Use that ethernet as WAN to a router you can manage.

Create a post

A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don’t control.

Rules:

  • Be civil: we’re here to support and learn from one another. Insults won’t be tolerated. Flame wars are frowned upon.
  • No spam posting.
  • Don’t duplicate the full text of your blog or github here. Just post the link for folks to click.
  • Submission headline should match the article title (don’t cherry-pick information from the title to fit your agenda).
  • No trolling.

Resources:

> Any issues on the community? Report it using the report flag.

> Questions? DM the mods!

  • 1 user online
  • 218 users / day
  • 9 users / week
  • 244 users / month
  • 841 users / 6 months
  • 0 subscribers
  • 542 Posts
  • 8.93K Comments
  • Modlog