ESP 8266 mac address change in AP mode

Projects Programming
1

Hello,

I would like to change ESP 8266's mac address in AP mode. Unfortunately, it only works in STA mode. Is there any way to make it work in AP mode?

Thanks,

2

Hmm,
doesn't this work ?

#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>

// Set your new MAC Address
uint8_t newMACAddress[] = {0x32, 0xAE, 0xA4, 0x07, 0x0D, 0x66};

void setup(){
  Serial.begin(115200);
  Serial.println();
  
  WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA);  //WiFi.mode(WIFI_AP_STA); edit, it needs to be in station mode to begin with
  
  Serial.print("[OLD] ESP8266 Board MAC Address:  ");
  Serial.println(WiFi.macAddress());

  // For Soft Access Point (AP) Mode
  wifi_set_macaddr(SOFTAP_IF, &newMACAddress[0]);
  // For Station Mode
  wifi_set_macaddr(STATION_IF, &newMACAddress[0]);
  
  Serial.print("[NEW] ESP8266 Board MAC Address:  ");
  Serial.println(WiFi.macAddress());
}
 
void loop(){

}
3

Unfortunately, no. It only works in STA mode only; I got a new mac (in the terminal Wifi.macAddress()). But the wifi analyser app displays the original mac instead of the new one in AP mode.

 delay(1000);
  Serial.begin(115200);
  WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA);
  wifi_set_macaddr(SOFTAP_IF, &newMACAddress[0]);
  wifi_set_macaddr(STATION_IF, &newMACAddress[0]);

  Serial.println();
  Serial.print("Configuring access point...\n");
  WiFi.softAP(ssid, password);
  WiFi.softAPConfig(local_ip, gateway, subnet);
  IPAddress myIP = WiFi.softAPIP();
  
  Serial.print("AP IP address: ");
  Serial.println(myIP);
  Serial.println(WiFi.macAddress());
4

That is unfortunate. It also doesn't appear to be persistent. I will investigate a bit more later.

5

If you understood what a MAC is and how it is assigned, maybe then you would understand why you see what you see. I was shocked to discover it could be changed at all.

6

Times, they are changing … (Bob Dylan)

7

Ok i did some more research and i found this as a very likely solution

#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>

//extern "C" {
  #include "user_interface.h"
//}
void initVariant() {
  uint8_t mac[] = {0x36, 0x33, 0x33, 0x33, 0x33, 0x33};
  wifi_set_macaddr(SOFTAP_IF, &mac[0]);
}

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200); Serial.println();
  Serial.print("This node AP mac: "); Serial.println(WiFi.softAPmacAddress());
  WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA);
  Serial.print("This node AP (STA) mac: "); Serial.println(WiFi.softAPmacAddress());
  delay(3000);
  // WiFi.mode(WIFI_AP); // <----- without this wifi_set_macaddr wont work
  ESP.restart();
}

void loop() {
}

Unfortunately combining them doesn't result in what i thought i should be getting. I don't really read MAC addresses anywhere, so testing will be all on your side.

I even had some trouble compiling for ESP8285 boards (which most of my ESP-01 's are) and apparently there is 2 ways of including "user_interface.h"

8

Also my results appear to be core specific up to some extend. I'll dig up a nodeMCU and see what happens later on, because the ESP-01 i have may not be always doing the same as such a board