Comment 34 for bug 1320752

Removing NetworkManager is not necessary. However, I still think the bug is NetworkManager. The MAC address cannot be changed while the interface is up. The MAC address can be manually changed while NetworkManager is running by disabling wireless in NetworkManager, and using a command like the following to change the MAC address, before bringing wireless back up and connecting:

ip link set dev "${interface}" address "${macaddr}"

I'm not sure if the kernel previously allowed MAC addresses to change while the interface was up, or if NetworkManager previously brought interfaces down, but either way, I think it's NetworkManager's responsibility to bring the interface down before attempting a change in the MAC address.

The reason seandepagnier's removal of NetworkManager works is because the interfaces are down by default when a daemon like NetworkManager is not active, so the MAC address changed with no problem.