Need to turn off random mac address on Chromecast with Google TV

[anderwell]

Connecting to the WiFi in my building requires entering the WiFi Mac address into a database which creates a password based on the Mac address. The Chromecast with Google TV creates a random Mac address for every connection attempt. It won't show me the Mac address it has created until I have successfully connected but I can't create a working password until I know the Mac address. A perfect Catch-22.

I see there are a lot of other people having a similar problem but some get around it by changing router settings. I can't access the routers or other wise change the system to get around this.

I found the actual device's Mac address by connecting at a friends house but that doesn't do me any good since it is not used for Wifi connections by default. 

Isn't there a way to turn off random Mac address creation during setup or at some point? Every other device I know that uses random Mac address has a setting to use the device Mac address and not a random Mac address. 

[JenniferV]

Hi anderwell, 

Thanks for reaching out. Each Chromecast device is assigned with one MAC address. To confirm, during set up, are you using a third party app such as a MAC address locator to locate the MAC address? If yes, that could be the reason you're getting a random MAC address for the device. 

On the other hand, if you're not using another app to locate it, please share a screenshot so we can get a better picture of the issue. Please remove any personal information such as the IP address if it will be shown in the screenshot.

Thanks,

Jennifer

[anderwell]

Let me try explaining again:

The Wifi network in our building assigns a password to each device based on its Wifi Mac address. This is similar to routers that do Mac address filtering to control who can connect. But there is no way to turn this off in our system. I give the Mac address of any new device to our administrator and he gives me the password to use with the device.

Early during Chromecast with TV (CCTV) setup you need to select a Wifi connection and enter the password to continue. With every other device I have connected there is a way to find the Mac address so I can request a password. Since I couldn't find a way to get the Mac address I setup the CCTV at a friends house using his wifi (that doesn't care about Mac address) and was able to go into settings to get the device's Mac address (Settings -> System -> About -> Status).

After I was connected to my friend's Wifi I checked the network connection (Settings -> Network & Internet -> Connection-name) and saw that the Mac address being used did not match the device's Mac address. A random Mac address had been created for the connection.

There is a "Privacy" setting here that was set to "Use randomized Mac (default)". I was able changed it to "Use device address" for this particular connection but it is clear that the CCTV always creates a random Mac address for any NEW Wifi connection and you can't see what the Mac is until you have entered a valid password and connected.

Several times I tried "forgetting" the Wifi connection and reconnecting and got a different random Mac address every time. We have this issue with cell phones that create a random Mac address by default but there is a setting to turn that off BEFORE trying to make a connection.

If everytime I try to connect to my building's Wifi the CCTV creates a different random Mac address I can never get a valid password to make the connection and I will never be able to use the CCTV in my building.

So my question: Is there a way to change the default Privacy setting for the CCTV to "Use device address" instead of "Use randomized Mac"?

[anderwell]

ADDITIONAL NOTE: I am having trouble with the NEW Chromecast with Google TV HD. I also have the original Chromecast with Google TV. I had no trouble setting up the original CCTV. It doesn't not have the Privacy setting I find in the new device. The original CCTV always uses the device's Mac address for all wifi connections and doesn't have an option for creating a random Mac address.

[JenniferV]

Hello anderwell,

Thanks for the detailed information on what's happening. We'd like to dig deeper into this. Could you fill out this form and let me know once you're done?

Regards,

Jennifer

[JenniferV]

Hey anderwell,

We received your form — thanks for filling it out. I'll hand it over to our team and they'll reach out to you via email anytime soon so keep an eye on your inbox.

Also, please be advised that this thread will be locked after 24 hours.

Thanks,

Jennifer