WP7 MAC address changed

[kmmcdonald]

Our home wifi network is hidden. We also implement MAC filtering. With the recent availability of Mango, I was able to connect to our wifi network. However, with the more recent minor upgrade, I discovered that I could not longer connect. I traced the problem to the MAC address of my phone having changed! Once I updated the wifi MAC filter for the new MAC address, everything is operating swimmingly again.

Why would the phone MAC address have changed?

thanks

Keith

 

[kmmcdonald]

It seems to me that this is a major issue. I have never encountered any other device that featured a "dynamic" MAC address before. I have reported this to HTC, who replied that they would like to see screen shots of the phone information before and after resetting the device. I have not gotten around to that yet as I don't want to go through the inconvenience of having to reconfigure my wifi MAC filter again.

I hope that wpcentral will investigate this issue.

 

[jalb]

That's really weird. I'm tagging this thread to see what HTC comes back with, if you have an update.

 

[kmmcdonald]

From what I understand, the MAC addresses every time that the phone is reset (battery removed and replaced).

 

[GekkoAce]

Yes, this is a cool feature if you want to be more anonymous. Sucks if you're using MAC filtering on your home network. It is a known issue HTC is working on fixing.

I have to ask though... Why bother with MAC filtering? MACs are very easily faked and provide zero protection.
Also, hiding your network SSID (name) doesn't help much either. There are some very simple tricks hackers use to get your computer to caugh up the SSID.

Turn off your MAC filtering and enjoy your phones accidental anonymity. This is a feature/bug other people would love to have. Using WPA or WPA-2 encryption should prevent any possible intrusion on your network.

 

[BraveStarr]

Any idea if HTC is still planning on fixing this? Or, at least, allowing a user to use a static MAC address if needed...

My work network access control solution requires a static MAC address, so I can't connect with my phone at all right now...

 

[bitslave]

Any idea if HTC is still planning on fixing this?

HTC seem to have released a fix, seen a report of a HTC HD7 apparently with this bug fixed
the firmware revision received by this particular handset also indicated a revision greater than the previously released version that introduced the bug.

It was for a Europe ROM'd HD7.

Cheers.

 

[Nataku4ca]

hope i dont annoy you with this, but im with gekkoace, turning off SSID broadcast and mac address filtering causes more security issues than it fixes... your devices would actually keep sending your SSID info out when it searches for wifi spots, can't remember the problem with mac address but i think gekkoace is correct in that it's easily faked

those were from a security white paper i read last year, oh and i hope htc finds a fix for your mac address issue

 

[1jaxstate1]

I thought I seen an article on this. If it's changing, MS screwed the pooch. It's highly illegal.

 

[BraveStarr]

HTC seem to have released a fix, seen a report of a HTC HD7 apparently with this bug fixed
the firmware revision received by this particular handset also indicated a revision greater than the previously released version that introduced the bug.

It was for a Europe ROM'd HD7.

Cheers.

Hmmm - I haven't received any firmware updates since the last one and it is still occurring...

 

[fogel35]

Hmmm - I haven't received any firmware updates since the last one and it is still occurring...

I deal with Windows CE RF devices and a lot of times baseband updates will change a MAC address. One normally expects to only see that when a system board with RF chip's are replaced.

If yours is constantly changing without any kind of update etc you may have a problem.

 

[bitslave]

Hmmm - I haven't received any firmware updates since the last one and it is still occurring...

Do you have a HTC HD7 with a Europe ROM in your handset?

There has not been a general fix for this known (for over 6weeks) bug.

Cheers.

 

[bitslave]

If yours is constantly changing without any kind of update etc you may have a problem.

It's a known bug introduced in the last HTC firmware updates, has been documented far and wide for the last 6 weeks.

No general fix available from HTC yet.

Cheers.

 

[bitslave]

If yours is constantly changing without any kind of update etc you may have a problem.

It's a known bug introduced in the last HTC firmware updates that implemented the WiFi Internet Tethering, has been documented far and wide for the last 6 weeks.

No general fix available from HTC yet.

Cheers.