WiFi Mac Randomization

Does the Librem5 use the default hardware mac address for all wifi connections; or per-connection randomized mac, or per-network randomized mac?

I noticed there is an option for a Spoofed Address under “Wi-Fi SSID Goes Here” > Settings pinwheel icon button > Network Settings > Details > Cloned Address > Blank textbox with dropdown menu (Preserve | Permanent | Random | Stable).

I also noticed there is an option for a Hardware Address under “Wi-Fi SSID Goes Here” > Settings pinwheel icon button > Network Settings > Details > Blank textbox with dropdown menu ( “hardware mac (wlan0)” )

The settings appear to be network-specific, so if you set it to Random then each time you connect to that network you’ll have a random MAC address.

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The normal Linux (NetworkManager) behaviour is that … per NetworkManager “connection” (i.e. per SSID if we are talking only about WiFi) you get to choose.

You can choose to use the permanent hardware (real) MAC address or you can use a stable but fake MAC address or you can use a randomized MAC address. (Stable means that the MAC address is arrived at by hashing certain information that you specify.)

If you want a constant IP address from DHCP when at home then you will probably want to use either a stable MAC address or more likely the permanent MAC address when at home (i.e. with your home SSID or SSIDs) while using a randomized MAC address on public or other untrusted WiFi networks. From memory, this is close to if not actually the setup that I have chosen.

At work you may be limited by what your employer wants you to do.

If doing this from the command line then nmcli is your friend.