Living in the United States, you get to have certain expectations, such as free soda refills at restaurants and fast food places. In terms of internet connections, it appears Internet Service Providers don't really care how many computers are connected to your home network.
Here on the continent of no free refills, this doesn't to appear the case. If you use a broadband provider like Chello, you'll probably have to give them you computer's Ethernet ID, and that computer will be the only computer that can connect to the internet.
Well, a couple months ago my PowerBook's hard drive crashed, upon Apple replaced almost everything vital. When I arrived in Austria two weeks ago, I found out that I could no longer connect to the internet at home.
Here's the solution if you're on a Mac with OS X and you know the ethernet ID / MAC address that's activated:
- Unplug the ethernet cord
- Open Terminal (It should be in Applications/Utilities)
- Enter the following code:
sudo ifconfig en0 ether [Ethernet ID you want to change to] - You'll have to enter your computer's root (master) password
- Plug ethernet cord back in
Depending on your computer, you might have to change en0 to en1. This is only a temporary solution, as your Ethernet ID will be reset upon restart to its original one.
Comments
no way,does that really work? do u take full responsibility might anything go wrong? (meaning - will u buy me a new laptop)
Posted by: tizi | January 25, 2006 3:55 AM
ps: how do i get the ethernet id? and what's the root password?
Posted by: tizi | January 25, 2006 3:58 AM
If you have another computer that's connected, then you can find the activated ethernet ID out under network settings.
Nothing can go wrong! Of course, if you permanently want to use another computer you might as well call the ISP and tell them you have a new computer now.
Posted by: | January 25, 2006 12:25 PM