Internet Service Providers and Modem MAC Address

[freedom-lover]

Closed on our new house and in the process of moving. One thing we need to get going is internet service. In Idaho an outfit called Sparklight is popular. However, they require the modem's MAC address and my understanding is the ISP one's internet activities once they have the MAC address. Will a VPN fix that? Should I try to find another ISP? (I have Xfinity now and my recollection is they never asked for the MAC address.) Thoughts?

[67Cuda]

The MAC address is like your street address. The ISP needs to know where you're at.

[Preston-CLB]

Maybe this article will help...

https://www.ofzenandcomputing.com/how-to-get-the-mac-address-of-your-router/

-P

[ibanezfoo]

The MAC address will be on the bottom of the modem. It just connects your network device to the ISPs device. If you are worried about being tracked unless you want to put in a lot of effort that ship has sailed. Most popular VPNs give the government whatever info they want and sell your data themselves. If you really want to put in the effort you can anonymize yourself but one slip up and it’s over. Any modern computer with a TPM module and a cloud account has 0 privacy. So yeah, a MAC address is the least of your concerns.

[OlderThanDirt]

If you want to be anonymous on the Internet go to the public library or keep a burner WiFi device and use public WiFi only.

[freedom-lover]

Thanks guys

[arrix]

Configure your router to not use your ISP for DNS. Use a public DNS like Cloudflare 1.1.1.1. That's really the only way they can see what websites you're going to. Otherwise a website uses a secure connection then they can't tell what you're doing on the website.

[freedom-lover]

Configure your router to not use your ISP for DNS. Use a public DNS like Cloudflare 1.1.1.1. That's really the only way they can see what websites you're going to. Otherwise a website uses a secure connection then they can't tell what you're doing on the website.

I see that on the router. However, I am using Firefox and I notice that there is a DNS over HTTPS option. So, is the DNS selection done in the router or browser or both?

[arrix]

I see that on the router. However, I am using Firefox and I notice that there is a DNS over HTTPS option. So, is the DNS selection done in the router or browser or both?

Doing it on the router will mask all Internet traffic in your house. Doing it on your browser only covers what you do on that browser. Doing both doesn't hurt anything but you won't gain anything either.