How to use randomized MAC address in GOS

Graphner

If I go here...
“Settings” - “About phone”
I find 2 things:
-“Wi-Fi MAC address”
-“Device Wi-Fi MAC address”

How can I change the MAC address in GOS?

userofgos

Graphner I find 2 things:
-“Wi-Fi MAC address”
-“Device Wi-Fi MAC address”

How can I change the MAC address in GOS?

You can't change the MAC address listed there. Also per-connection MAC randomization is enabled by default.

The Wi-Fi MAC randomisation settings are located and adjusted per network in Settings > Network and Internet > Internet > name of connected network > Settings (gear icon) > Privacy

Take a look at the GrapheneOS website documentation on Wi-fi Privacy: https://grapheneos.org/features#wifi-privacy

GrapheneOS supports per-connection MAC randomization and enables it by default. This is a more private approach than the standard persistent per-network random MAC used by modern Android.

When the per-connection MAC randomization added by GrapheneOS is being used, DHCP client state is flushed before reconnecting to a network to avoid revealing that it's likely the same device as before.

Graphner

Thank you very much!

Let me see if I understand…

In “Device Wi‑Fi MAC address” I see something like 10:e5:82…, so if “per‑connection MAC randomization is enabled by default”, in “Settings” - “About phone” I should see (whenever I’m connected to the internet via Wi‑Fi) that the numbers and letters of “Wi‑Fi MAC address” and “Device Wi‑Fi MAC address” don’t match, right? If they do match, I understand it’s because I’ve changed something I shouldn’t have. I imagine that even if I use a VPN, that “per‑connection MAC randomization” should still remain active.

What happens to the MAC address on my Pixel if, instead of connecting to the internet via Wi‑Fi, I use a USB‑C to RJ‑45 (Ethernet) adapter?

de0u

Graphner What happens to the MAC address on my Pixel if, instead of connecting to the internet via Wi‑Fi, I use a USB‑C to RJ‑45 (Ethernet) adapter?

The Pixel ships with a Wi-Fi MAC address that is used for Wi-Fi and a Bluetooth MAC address that is used for Bluetooth. Every wired Ethernet device ships with its own MAC address that will be used by default on the wire. GrapheneOS supports randomizing MAC addresses for Wi-Fi networks but otherwise uses interface MAC addresses.

Graphner

Thank you very much. It’s good to find out that GOS only changes the Wi‑Fi MAC, and that for Bluetooth, Ethernet… it doesn’t use a different address but the original one burned into the chip. Very interesting.