Hello,
A big number of Airports in major Western cities in the US provide free and unlimited Internet access.
In my recent trips to the Middle East, I was disappointed to find out that the internet is not totally for free. Instead, they usually give you 30 minutes for free and then you have to pay after that.
UPDATE:
I have a release a free utility for Windows that allows you to get unlimited internet at airports in two easy steps!
Download the tool:
In this article, I am going to show you one trick on how to keep extending your 30 minutes free internet so you get unlimited internet.
Temporary Internet at the Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport:
Temporary Internet at the Dubai International Airport:
The principle
The hotspots at the airport identify your computer via your MAC address. In layman terms, the MAC Address is a unique identifier assigned to your WiFi adapter. When you connect to the hotspot, it will remember your MAC Address and start counting the minutes. When the time is up then it will redirect you to the payment page where you have to pay in order to continue using the internet.
I think you can now see the obvious:
What if I have another MAC address? Will the hotspot think I am a new computer and give me another complimentary 30 minutes access for free?
The answer is: “Yes, indeed”. A “new computer” is a computer where the hotspot has not seen its MAC Address yet. In that case, free internet will be given for a limited amount of time.
Note: Of course, the hotspot will reset your time limit if you come back the next day with the same computer (MAC Address) and thus you will be granted free temporary internet again.
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How to circumvent the time limitation
As I explained previously, if we figure out a way to get a new MAC Address or change the MAC Address of WiFi card used to connect to the hotspot, then we can get 30 minutes of internet each time.
Getting a new MAC Address
To get a new MAC Address, you may insert a USB WiFi card and connect with it. In that case, your laptop’s built-in WiFi card will get 30 minutes and then the USB WiFi card will get another 30 minutes. This method is the most basic method and easy method.
Changing the MAC Address
Changing the MAC Address of your network card is also called spoofing. In short, MAC Address spoofing means changing the MAC Address using software means.
As far as the hotspot is concerned it will see the spoofed MAC address and not your original address. Please note that when you reboot your computer then the spoofed MAC Address will be reverted and the one embedded in the WiFi card will be used again.
Let’s do it
In this section I will point you in the right direction regarding how to change the MAC Address on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.
Changing the MAC Address on Windows
To change the MAC Address on Windows, you can use the free ChangeMACAddressBatch script found in the “Changing the MAC address on Windows” article (which I wrote with the help of the “Batchography: The Art of Batch Files Programming” book).
Download the free ChangeMACAddressBatch script:
Note: In case of doubt / if you need help then please make sure you read all the instructions in that article.
Alternatively, you can use the UnlimitedAirportInternet tool to get free internet in two easy steps:
Changing the MAC Address on Linux / Mac OS X
There are many ways to change the MAC Address on Linux / Mac OS X. You can follow this article for instance.
If you have NodeJS installed, then you can use the spoof npm package to change the MAC Address.
Finally
Changing the MAC Address should be enough to give you an extra 30 minutes of free internet. What you just learned is not illegal. You are not stealing anything, you are entitled with free internet for each MAC Address your computer connects with to the hotspot.
It may be necessary to clear your browser cookies before attempting to get more Internet time again. For that, I normally use another browser or a guest user account where I don’t mind clearing the cookies.
Enjoy!
We always wish for a world where the Internet is everywhere and is free for all!
You might also like:
- Free WifiShare Tool – Turning your laptop into a hotspot and internet connection sharing station
- How to get unlimited free Internet at Airports
- Batchography: Useful keyboard shortcuts for editing and working with the command prompt
- WifiPasswordReveal: A script to reveal all the saved WiFi passwords in Windows 7 and above
- http://www.wikihow.com/Change-a-Computer’s-Mac-Address-in-Windows
- TMAC tool from Technetium
There is an issue with using this utility, especially for users who have business networked equipment. If their MAC address is hard-coded to allow access to their in-house work networks, then they will be blocked when they return. Unless they reset their MAC address to the one they need in order to be white-listed on their office network/s again.
There is also another issue with some remote support applications that allocate dedicated client ID numbers/identifiers based on their machines MAC Address and hard-drive serial numbers or such. Each time they change their MAC address, that ID info could be changed to a new number.