Hack the Route Start free Open app Wireless and network types
MAC filtering
Letting in only listed MAC addresses at an access point or switch port: easy to set up, and easy to get past.
An access point or switch port admits only the MAC addresses on an allow list, or refuses those on a deny
list. It keeps out the honest, not the determined: the MAC address travels unencrypted in every frame header, even on
a WPA2 or WPA3 network, so anyone in range sees which addresses are in use and gives their own card one of them
(ip link set wlan0 address …). This MAC spoofing takes a second. The lists are also a chore to keep, and phones
now use a random private address per network. On a switch, port security is the stronger form: it ties the
addresses to one physical port and shuts the port on a violation, though a copied address still passes once the real
device is unplugged. Access that holds up checks the user or device itself: 802.1X with RADIUS, which is
WPA2/WPA3-Enterprise on Wi-Fi.