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September17,2014

HowtoconnectAppleTVtoahotelWiFinetwork
Whenever my wife and I take an extended vacation I always bring along our
Apple TV.
At the end of a long day filled with adventure and fun its nice to just snuggle up

together and watch your favorite show on Netflix or rent a new release comedy.
Ive found that hotel television is still so primitive and annoying. The ondemand movie rentals are limited and very pricey, the regular programming is
usually in standard definition, and youre forced to channel surf without a guide.
Aint nobody got time for that!
When I book a hotel I always make sure there is free Wi-Fi and that they say
there are flat screens in every room, this tells me that there must be an HDMI
input on it somewhere.
Ah, but my Apple TV doesnt have a browser! So when the hotel Wi-Fi splash
screen pops up asking for confirmation that I Agree to their terms of use or to
enter some sort of special login, I cant.
It seems were left with no choice but to do some friendly hacking to circumvent
this annoying speed bump!

HowItWorks
This is a little networking 101 here, but Ill explain it briefly in case you are
really a beginner.
Every device that connects to the Internet has a unique mac address, or media
access control address. Its basically a serial number for your hardware and it
tells the network who you are.
No, it has nothing to do with Mac computers built by Apple. If youre still
unsure what Im talking about, please go and read this article first.

The hotel network works by validating your mac address and putting it on a
whitelist so it can connect automatically in the near future.
The only problem is, you need a browser to do this, and Apple TV doesnt come
with a browser (so far).

HowWereGoingtoGetAroundIt
So heres what were going to do.
First, were going to trick the hotel network to think that our Apple TVs mac
address is actually our computers mac address.
Then, we will use our computer to complete the browser
authentication/checkbox/button/whatever they need so this address can be
whitelisted.
Finally, we will change the mac address on our computer back to the original,
and then reconnect both our computer and the Apple TV back onto the
network.

SpoofingYourMacAddress
Note: These steps assume you are using OS X, sorry PC folks.
Step 1. Disconnect your laptopand Apple TV from the hotel Wi-Fi by
forgetting the network.Do not Turn O f Wi- ibut rather just make it so youre
not connected to any network. We cant spoof the mac address if the device is
powered off!

Step 2.Open up your Terminal

Step 3. Get your current mac address using:
Step 4. It will look something like this:

ifconfig en1 | grep ether

03:a1:04:d5:00:12. Save it somewhere

safe, well need it again later.

Step 5. Write down your Apple TVs mac address, which you can find under
Settings > General > Network > Wi-Fi Address

Step 6. Now we will spoof our computers mac address to be the one we just
wrote down from Apple TV:

sudo ifconfig en1 ether 28:cf:xx:xx:xx:xx

Step 7. Sanity check that our mac address has indeed changed:

ifconfig en1 |

grep ether

Step 8. Connect your computer to the Wi-Fi, open a browser window and
complete whatever authentication it needs to connect.
Step 9.Disconnect your computer from the Wi-Fi.

Step 10. Repeat steps 6 & 7 to change your computers mac address back to the
original one we saved in step 4.
Step 11. Reconnect both your computer and Apple TV to the hotel Wi-Fi.
And were in business!
Most networks will keep this mac address whitelisted for 24 hours or so. After it
expires youll need to do this whole process again.
This may not be perfect for every situation, but its always worked for me. If it
helped you, please leave me a comment!

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POSTMETA

60Comments

Addyours

Eric
December21,20141:38am

I live in an apartment complex where the internet is provided for me

and Ive run into the same problem. Should I follow the steps you listed
above? Or is there additional steps needed? I am not very computer
savvy so I would definitely appreciate your help!
Reply

FrankieJarrett
December22,201411:14am

Yes, you should definitely give it a try.

Reply

Tyna
December23,20149:35pm

Hi. Thank you for posting this, one. Two, when I put the
Apple TV wifi address into my Mac terminal to follow the
step you mention, I get the response, Device power is off
even though the Apple TV is on. Any idea what I might be
doing wrong?
Reply

FrankieJarrett
December23,20149:40pm

Hm that does seem strange. What version of OS X are

you running?
Reply

Tyna
December26,201412:43pm

OS X Yosemite 10.10.1
Reply

FrankieJarrett
May29,20154:34pm

Ive updated Step 1 in this tutorial to avoid confusion about

disconnecting from a Wi-Fi network vs. turning Wi-Fi off.
If you turn it off you cant spoof anything because the
device is shut down.
Reply

Dave
December24,20149:10am

Thank you, Frankie. I just helped my friend connect at his hotel, using
your instructions.
Tyna, we got the same response. This response is because your wifi on
your computer is turned off. You need the wifi to be on, but not
connected to the hotels network. once its on, you should have no
problem.
Reply

Tyna
December26,201412:44pm

Oh ok going to try this thank you!

Reply

Tyna
December26,201412:51pm

And that totally worked. Thank you Dave and thank you
Frankie for being willing to look into this issue! Happy
streaming!
Reply

MikeP
December26,201410:23pm

Awesome post. Awesome instructions. This worked like a charm.

Perfect! The kids thank you a million!
Reply

Tony
January1,20157:09pm

What about permission denied?

Reply

Jon
January3,20158:49am

What about invalid argument?

Reply

KharmaConsulting(@KharmaWifi)
January3,20156:28pm

We are a Managed Service Provider of hotel networks. With our

networks, and others for that matter, simply call the support line with
your MAC address and they will manually whitelist you for the
duration of your stay. Just remember that hotel wifi is shared and will
be portioned out to all guests in the hotel. You experience will greatly
depend on the amount of bandwidth coming to the hotel.
Reply

Schr0
February19,201511:04pm

Check with the hotel first but in my LONG experience if your

hotels internet is managed by a company like Kharma , GuestTek
or InnFlux.. They will Be Happy to help you & Talk you through
it .. just call the number the hotel gives you
Reply

FrankieJarrett
February21,201510:44am

Wheres the fun in that?

Reply

Elizabeth
January31,20154:48pm

We are at a resort and maintenance connected to the hdmi2. While I

have completed the settings and am connected to network I am not
getting the onscreen menu. Any ideas? Thanks!
Reply

JackMcDougall
March2,20153:54pm

can i do this with an ipad?

Reply

FrankieJarrett
March3,20155:39pm

No, you cant spoof an iPad mac address with this tutorial
because:
1. There is not a command line interface exposed for iOS (unless
maybe you jailbrake it)
2. The steps are specifically for Apple TV because there is not a
browser. There IS a browser on iPad, so just open Safari and
youll be redirected to the networks terms and conditions page.
Reply

brandy
March4,20159:21pm

What is OS X, and how do I know if that is what I have?

Reply

FrankieJarrett
March5,20151:32pm

https://www.apple.com/osx/what-is/
Reply

Reply

Nick
March6,20152:50pm

Thanks for posting this. Any advice for Yosemite users? I know its a bit
different, but Im not sure how.
Reply

FrankieJarrett
March9,201510:50am

I am also using Yosemite, these steps should work fine for you.
Reply

PlexConnect
March17,20156:11pm

Jailbroken aTVs can use couch surfer to do this without a Mac to

associate with the network and accept the toss welcome screen. For unjailbroken aTVs this could be nice.
Reply

PlexConnect
March17,20156:17pm

Then again if you are using a mac while on vacation why not just
use PlexConnect are get some real content on your aTV
Reply

D
April13,201511:13am

Sooooo first off, i love this post. Well written, informative, simple
i think einstein would be proud. (if you cant explain it simply, then
you dont understand it well enoughish)
Anywho after i do the sudo code it asks for my password (which i
changed from 3 spaces to an actual word). But when i type it in, the
curser doesnt move and the characters arent added.
Then when i enter it in, it just takes me back to a fresh terminal line and
wont take the sudo request anymore HELP!
Reply

D
April13,201511:16am

OH! And stupid question #2: do i put the actual IP for the Apple
TV in? or do i put in 28:cf: then the last 8 digits of the IP?
Reply

Brandy
April28,20157:15am

So, I just hooked mine up even easier- with the help of the hotel
tech support.
1.Go to
settings- general-network-Wi-Fi Address
2. Call tech support (theyre number will be with the instructions
the hotel gives you to connect to the Internet)
3. Enjoy!

The only bad thing is the hotels have set it up so that there is no
visabitily between devices, so you cannot mirror what is on the
other apple product ????
Reply

cii
April18,20159:40am

I tried, but its ask for password after step 6, do i use my log in
password?
Reply

Danielle
May17,201512:25pm

I have tried this and its not working. I have found my computers Mac
address and the apple TVs, but when I try to spoof it in step 6, nothing
happens and the Mac address hasnt changed. No idea what Im doing
wrong. Ive also been asked to type my password, but when I type my
admin password, it just takes me back to a new terminal line. Is this
supposed to be the wifi password in the hotel? Im very confused. Also
not sure if Im supposed to type the entire Apple TV address in step 6 or
use what youve put 28:cf:xx:xx:xx:xx and filling in the xs with the rest
of what I have. Please help! Thanks!
Reply

tony
January4,20169:26am

#1 en0 instead of en1 worked for me on my mac

#2 password: yes your admin password not wifi password. yes the
cursor doesnt move and the characters arent typed on the screen
but rest assured it is taking your input, just press enter after
typing. if it didnt work try en0 instead of en1 or follow Frankies
instructions below.
#3 type in entire apple TV address not anything from the
example address. mine starts with b0:34
#4 easiest way to reset your computer mac address back is just to
restart it.
#5 easiest way to disconnect from the wifi is to connect to your
phone hotspot then disconnect from it but switching it off on
your phone.
Ps. Frankie youre a genius.
Reply

FrankieJarrett
January5,20169:24am

Reply

Dave
May21,20156:47pm

This doesnt work for me. Reassigning the MAC address on my laptop
seems to fail silently. I am on Yosemite.
Heres what happens:
$ sudo ifconfig en1 ether [AppleTV MAC]

$ ifconfig en1 | grep ether

ether [Laptop MAC]
Reply

FrankieJarrett
May29,20154:20pm

Open up the menu: Apple > About This Mac > System Report
> Network

Then look at the BSD Device Names column, you will hopefully
find en0 and en1 listed here for AirPort and Ethernet,
respectively.

1. Make sure to use the correct BSD device name in the

commands from this tutorial that correspond with the way you
are connecting.
2. Also its very important that if youre wanting to connect with
Wi-Fi do not power it o f, rather you must only disconnect it from
the network.
If the Wi-fi device is powered off you wont be able to spoof the
Mac

Reply

Reply

Neal
June2,20157:33pm

Worked like charm. Thanks dude

Reply

Rudy
June4,20154:26pm

Tried doing this with the Xbox One and my apartment wifi. Not getting
any luck, any suggestions?
Reply

Rudy
June4,20154:29pm

Disregard I got it to work.. Thanks!

Reply

UdoJ
July11,20152:49pm

Thx a lot! Work immediately!

Reply

Dru
October21,201512:52pm

Dude. Genius.
Reply

Alitron
November13,20159:36pm

Hey everything worked for me except when I tried to log back into the
wifi once I spoof the Apple TV address. The wifi keeps saying
connection timeout and am unable to login. But this doesnt happen
when I go back to my original MAC address. Any suggestions?
Reply

Alitron
November13,20159:41pm

Also thanks in advance, this is a great thing you discovered. And I hope
to be able to figure this out.
Reply

Addison
November18,201511:42pm

Have you happen to try this with the new 4th gen? I cant get to the
settings/general before setup like on the earlier models
Reply

Regis
November22,20151:49am

Just done it on ATV 4th generation. Works fine. But note that the en1

in ifconfig en1 | grep ether was actually a en0 on my MacBook Pro.

Reply

PaulaDawson
November23,20152:32pm

HI, I am a bit confused on this. I am clearly very much a beginner. What

do you mean by open the Terminal? Where do you type the IP address
in? Sorry if these are stupid questions?
Reply

tony
January4,20169:11am

Just type in terminal in the spotlight search in the upper right

corner of your mac. Youll receive a prompt.
Reply

sam
December4,201510:20pm

I had the same issue as ALitron above: Hey everything worked for me
except when I tried to log back into the wifi once I spoof the Apple TV
address. The wifi keeps saying connection timeout and am unable to
login. But this doesnt happen when I go back to my original MAC
address. Any suggestions?
Its almost like the system knew 2 MAC addresses came in at the same
time and blocked it bc as soon as I switch back to my laptop MAC it
starts working again right away. Is that possible? Im doing it on Xfinity

Hotspot.
Reply

Dru
December15,20155:28am

Sam did you make sure to turn off WiFi on your Apple TV first,
then spoof your laptop address? Once you have spoofed the
laptop and made the connection, switch the laptop hardware
address back to the original and THEN turn WiFi back on for the
Apple TV.
Reply

Alitron
January31,201612:54pm

Hey did you ever get this figured out? I did something that
worked the next day after I posted this. Now the xfinity has
stopped recognizing my Apple TV and I need to do it all again
and cant remember what I did differently! Ha!
Reply

Alitron
January31,20162:08pm

Ok a note for my future self and anyone else dealing with

this specific problem. I forgot to forget the wifi on my
appletv in addition to on my computer. Again thanks for
making this thread!
Reply

Lauren
January4,20168:34pm

Does this work with PCs? My apartment does something similar to this
and I am desperate! How do I find my PC address?
Reply

Lauren
January4,20168:36pm

Also how do I get to the terminal on my PC?

Reply

FrankieJarrett
January5,20169:24am

Sorry Lauren, this guide is for OS X and does not work on a PC.
Reply

Mauricio
February5,20167:43pm

Hi, well I encountered the dame problem on the in1/in0 thing, finally
worked out. Now I spoofed my macbook and when it connects to the
wifi the confirmation page does not come again so I cant get online
Read all the comments and that one does not happen to anybody. BTW
Im using el Capitan
Reply

Mauricio
February7,20166:49pm

February7,20166:49pm

Update: I just re did everything and it worked this time

Thanks!
Reply

Daelle
February21,20166:36pm

With MacBook Air running Yosemite 10.10.5 en1 didnt work but
switched to en0 and it worked perfectly!
Reply

MediumDaddyKane
February29,201612:29am

This is absolutely genius. Works like a charm with xfinitywifi hotspots

too. Hopefully the whitelisting will be longer than 24 hours!
Reply

RobNovak
April6,20164:50pm

Thanks for the post, great instructions.

For me it was en0 and the mac address can be found on the Advanced
tab of the network settings as well as through terminalbut since you
have to go there anyway.
Reply

Hannah

Hannah
May14,20168:33am

Thank you for your friendly hacking tip!! I used it (and the assistance of
changing 1 to 0 in one of the comments) to get my Amazon fire on to a
hotspot.
Reply

Holly
May27,201612:01pm

So after step 9 , I turned off internet then repeated the steps, thats when
it says device power off. And if I turn the wifi back on it messes up my
Apple TV Internet. How do I deal with that? Thanks
Reply

Luckytostumbleonthispage
June9,20168:05pm

Worked like a charm! -6/9/2016

Reply

JustaMan
June14,201612:10pm

Worked like a charm! I only wish to think of Google this question

instead of calling IT support phone numbers and Apple support where
so much time and energy has been wasted. Thanks for guys like you,
real solution can be found when we take control of the situation based
on straight forward help like this. Thanks again! You have saved me
from the Idiot-Box programing (TV)
Reply

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