How to Change MAC Address on Ubiquiti (UBNT) Device

In the test, I’ll change the MAC address on Ubiquiti Rocket M5.

To do this, edit the configuration file.
You can download the configuration file via the web interface, edit and then upload it back, or you can edit it online by connecting to the device via SSH or telnet.
We’ll back up the configuration just in case through the web interface or as I described in this article:
Backup Ubiquiti Device Configuration (UBNT)

In fact, you need to find construction sites:

netconf.1.devname=eth0
netconf.1.hwaddr.mac=
netconf.1.hwaddr.status=disabled
...
netconf.2.devname=ath0
netconf.2.hwaddr.mac=
netconf.2.hwaddr.status=disabled

eth0 is LAN, ath0 is WLAN.
When editing in the vi editor, use the x key to delete the word disable, and then press the a key to write enable instead. after mac= specify the desired mac-address. Mac LAN must be different from mac WLAN. After editing, press Esc to return to command mode, type: x and press Enter to save the changes to the file and exit the editor.

Something like this should be spelled out:

netconf.1.devname=eth0
netconf.1.hwaddr.mac=00:11:11:22:22:33
netconf.1.hwaddr.status=enable
...
netconf.2.devname=ath0
netconf.2.hwaddr.mac=00:11:11:22:22:34
netconf.2.hwaddr.status=enable

After the change, apply the changes with the commands:

cfgmtd -f /tmp/system.cfg -w
/usr/etc/rc.d/rc.softrestart save

Done.

You can temporarily change the MAC address until the device is rebooted; for this, we’ll see the names of the network interfaces:

ifconfig

And change, for example for wifi0:

ifconfig wifi0 down
ifconfig wifi0 hw ether 11:22:33:44:55:66
ifconfig wifi0 up

You can also try adding the commands above to the script so that they are executed when the device is turned on:

vi /etc/persistent/rc.poststart
press i
ifconfig wifi0 down
ifconfig wifi0 hw ether 11:22:33:44:55:66
ifconfig wifi0 up
press the ESC key
type :wq and press Enter

Save and reboot the device:

cfgmtd -w -p /etc/
reboot

See also my article:
Ubiquiti SSH Management

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5 Comments

Leave a Reply to paulCancel reply

  1. hi, is this something that Unifi AP Lite can do?

    I’d like my wifi setup to blend in with the surrounding ISP mac addresses rather than displaying that I’m using Unifi.

    Changing the wifi mac address is possible on my Linksys router, but it lacks security and updates compared to the unifi ap

  2. just a word of caution. today(june2022) tried this on up-to-date locom5= this will make eth comms immediatly and premanently stop working.

    1. i was wrong, i have to “eat crow”,becuase, IF YOU FAIL TO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS EXACTLY then of course comms can and will be lost, BUT, if you follow the directions above as stated, then, this DOES WORK. just…. be careful. (first time i tried this i made some pretty dumb clerical errors) (2nd time, worked like a charm)

  3. Unfortunately no longer an option on AC radios. Thanks UBNT, Thanks a lot for making installer work so much harder. Idjits!!

  4. Aportes como estos, se agradecen bastante. Acabo de cambir la mac a mi Litebeam m5, muchas gracias amigo. Yo solo descargue el archivo de configuracion y edite con notepad.

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