What is MAC address and how to find it on computer and phone?

MAC address or A Media Access Control address is a unique identifier assigned to a network card (NIC) by the manufacturer. A network interface card or network module enables the connection of various devices to the Internet through Wi-Fi or an Ethernet cable.

MAC addresses are used to distinguish devices from each other in the local network. MAC address consists of a 48-bit or 64-bit address that is hardwired into the network interface card at the factory. It is embedded and connected to the network adapter. All network cards have different MAC addresses by which they are identified. A MAC address is also known by other names such as Ethernet hardware address (EHA), mapped address (BIA), adapter address, network hardware address, physical address, or Wi-Fi address.

Network cards each have a unique MAC address. Packets sent in the network environment always come from the same MAC address and are sent to the same MAC address. If a network adapter is receiving a packet, it compares the destination MAC address of the packet with the adapter’s own MAC address. If the addresses match, the packet is processed; Otherwise, it will be ignored. Therefore, the physical address provides a secure way to locate the sender or receiver on the network and helps prevent unwanted access to the network.

From Physical addresses can be used to grant or deny access to specific devices on a network. You can even configure your home internet based on the MAC address of the devices that want to connect to it to ensure that unauthorized devices do not have access.

The most important difference between IP and MAC is that the MAC address The second layer (data link layer) and IP address betweenThe third (network layer) it works. MAC address and IP address identify network devices; But they do this at different levels. MAC addresses identify network devices on a local scale; But the IP address controls how devices communicate on the Internet on a global scale.

The MAC address is only important in the local network to which the device is connected, and is not used or retained in the data stream after the packets leave that network. Any internet software, such as a web browser, stores data using IP The destination address points to a destination on the Internet. Internet routers transfer packets from the source network to the destination network and then to the local network to which the destination device is connected.

In fact, IP LAN Converts the address to a MAC address and adds the MAC address to the data stream and sends the data to the appropriate device. A physical address assigns a unique identifier to a hardware network interface, and an IP address assigns a unique identifier to a software network interface.

Another difference between MAC address and IP address is how the addresses are assigned. The MAC address is permanently assigned to the adapters and since it is a physical address, it cannot be changed. IP addresses are assigned both statically and dynamically. An IP address is assigned to a network device through software settings, and network administrators can change it at any time.

IPare temporary identifiers; But the MAC address is a permanent identifier. Two or more different devices cannot have the same MAC address; But it is common to assign a single IP to several different devices.

A MAC address consists of 12 hexadecimal digits, usually divided into six pairs separated by a space or The colons are separated. Physical addresses range from 00-00-00-00-00-00 to FF-FF-FF-FF-FF-FF. The first half of the number represents the manufacturer identifier (OUI) and the second half represents the device identifier (NIC).