What Is A MAC Address? And How Do You Find Them? (PC / Mac / Android)

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What Is A MAC Address? And How Do You Find Them? (PC / Mac / Android)
What Is A MAC Address? And How Do You Find Them? (PC / Mac / Android)

Video: What Is A MAC Address? And How Do You Find Them? (PC / Mac / Android)

Video: What Is A MAC Address? And How Do You Find Them? (PC / Mac / Android)
Video: What is a MAC Address? 2024, March
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Each network-enabled device has a factory MAC address (M edia- A ccess- C ontrol) over which it clearly identified can be. A MAC address is a 12-digit code (example: 00-07-E9: 1F: 48: BA), which consists of numbers between 0 and 9 and letters from A to F.

  • The first 6 characters indicate who the manufacturer of the device is.
  • For example, the initial digit sequence "00-07-E9" stands for Intel, "00-60-2F" is Cisco and "00-15-F2" is Asus.
  • There are different notations for MAC addresses like: 00-07-E9: 1F: 48: BA or 00-07-E9-1F-48-BA or 0007E91F48BA.
  • The MAC address is connected to the hardware and can not be changed.
  • A MAC address has nothing to do with the Apple Mac.
  • At Apple, the MAC address is often called " Ethernet ID ", " Airport ID " or " WiFi address ".
  • Microsoft also calls the MAC address " physical address ".

What do I need a MAC address for?

MAC addresses are interesting in a network. Suppose you have a router, smartphones and computers that are connected via LAN or WLAN in the network. Then you can set up your router so that only certain devices are allowed to access the Internet. To do this, you determine all MAC addresses of the devices that are allowed - or all those that are not allowed (set up MAC filter) in the router settings. In this way, networks can be protected against access by unauthorized devices. However, professional hackers can also read out MAC addresses and then pretend them (MAC spoofing). Here we also show how to change the MAC address in Windows 10. Under certain circumstances, the MAC address of a Fritzbox can also be changed. So MAC address filters are not absolutely secure.

So you can find out your MAC address

Sometimes the MAC address is on a sticker on the network adapter of the respective device. Windows or Apple computers display their MAC address as follows.

For Windows computers:

  1. Press the key combination [ Windows] + [ R] to open the Run window.
  2. Type in cmd and press [ Enter] to open the command prompt.
  3. Enter the command ipconfig / all there and press [ Enter] to display all important network information.
  4. Next to the line " Physical address " you can see the MAC address of your PC.
This is the MAC address of the PC. Picture: GIGA
This is the MAC address of the PC. Picture: GIGA

For Apple computers:

  1. Opens the spotlight search at the top right (magnifying glass symbol).
  2. Give terminal and presses [ Enter] to open the terminal.
  3. Type in ifconfig and press [ Enter] to display all important network information.
  4. Your MAC address is next to the "ether" line.

Alternatively you open the " System Settings " and click on " Network ". Select your network connection on the left and click on the " More options … " button. Then click on the " Hardware " tab. Your MAC address is at the top.

The Mac shows the MAC address in the terminal or in the network settings. Picture: GIGA
The Mac shows the MAC address in the terminal or in the network settings. Picture: GIGA

PS4: How to find the MAC address on PlayStation 4.

For Android devices:

  1. Opens the " Settings ".
  2. Scroll down and tap " Via the phone " or similar.
  3. Your MAC address will be displayed here.
  4. You may have to search in other submenus such as "Network".
Android shows the MAC address here. Picture: GIGA
Android shows the MAC address here. Picture: GIGA

Everything works? If not, please write us your opinions and experiences in the comment section below these instructions.

Open source vs. commercial software - what do you use?

Robert Schanze
Robert Schanze

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