How To Find My Device Mac Address

How are IP addresses associated with hardware?

Conspicuously, there must be some style to associate an IP address to a estimator, right? In that location is. Every hardware device that connects to the Internet has a unique identifier known as a MAC accost.

What is a MAC accost?

No, we are not talking about a MAC computer from Apple, Inc.

A MAC (Media Access Command) accost is the concrete hardware identifier for the actual network card itself; whereas, an IP address is a logical network accost. A MAC address is permanently programmed into the hardware device past the manufacturer; therefore, a MAC address cannot be changed. An IP accost can exist changed.

This is a picture of a wireless Network Interface Controller (NIC) card from a laptop reckoner.

What is a MAC address and where is it located?

Hardware MAC Accost

Recall of information technology like this: Your house is physically located at: 123 Main Street, Somewhere, Usa. But you transport and receive calls through a telephone operator using your home phone number. The person calling does not know where your concrete dwelling address is. The nice thing is that you can change your dwelling telephone number at any time and yet send/receive calls through the operator.

Recollect: a MAC address is a concrete address. An IP address is a logical address.

This is a picture of an Ethernet Network Interface Card (NIC) for a desktop reckoner.

Each NIC has a MAC address etched into the hardware from the manufacturer.

Network Interface Controller (NIC)

How many MAC addresses does a Computer have?

Each Network Interface Controller (NIC) has its own MAC address. If y'all take a network card in your desktop computer, it has a MAC address. If you have a wireless network card in your laptop, that likewise has a MAC address. If you lot connect to the Cyberspace with a smart telephone, your smart phone too has a MAC address.

If you have a laptop that tin connect wirelessly, or with a network cable, your laptop will take two MAC addresses (one for each network interface controller). For Instance:

Wireless MAC accost: 01:23:45:67:89:AB
Wired Ethernet MAC accost: 01:23:45:67:89:CE

Both Wireless and Ethernet network adapters have MAC addresses

Ethernet / Wireless MAC Accost

In the previous paradigm, I take one Etherent controller, and ane wireless controller. Each network controller has its own MAC accost. If the calculator has 2 Ethernet ports, it will take a MAC address for each Ethernet port. If it has dual-ring wireless capability, it volition have a MAC address for each wireless band. If your computer has two Ethernet ports and dual-ring wireless, it volition have 4 MAC addresses. I call back you get the idea.

How do MAC addresses work?

When you lot router wants to send data packets to your computer with IP accost 'X', the router needs to know what your computers MAC address is. Then, the router sends an ARP broadcast request on the LAN. ARP means Accost Resolution Protocol. Your router is basically trying to resolve (find) the physical address of which calculator this IP address belongs to. So, the router sends a broadcast that says "hey everyone, if you have IP address X, please tell me what your MAC address is." I of your computers volition reply "Hello, I have IP address 10 and my MAC address is XYZ, please frontwards the data to my MAC address."

The IP address is what is first used to detect the right network. Once the request reaches the right network using the IP address, ARP is what converts an IP address to a MAC address and delivers the data bundle to the correct calculator.

TIP: ARP may sound similar to a Network Address Translation (NAT), but you need to understand that NAT is used for addressing and locating networks; whereas, ARP is used to deliver the actual data to the physical device.

Once more, let's use the accost and telephone number example to suspension this down into a digestible example:

The telephone operator is, let's say, your NAT server (router).
You take a individual domicile phone number (your individual IP address).
You lot accept a physical dwelling house address located at 123 Main St, Somewhere, Us (let's say this is your computers MAC address).
The operator (router) receives a call for you and forwards the call (using the ARP protocol) to your dwelling house phone number (your private IP address).
The person trying to accomplish you is trying to deliver a package to your home address (in this case, the package is a data packet).
But since yous don't want them knowing where your dwelling is located, you tell the operator (the router), that you're expecting a package and that when it arrives, to send it to your concrete Accost (the MAC address).

From a technical viewpoint, it looks more similar this:
The laptop says "who has IP address 192.168.1.i"? (which is the routers IP address). "Please tell 192.168.one.ii" (tell me, the laptop, considering I'thousand trying to send/receive data).

The router responds, "I have IP accost 192.168.1.1 and I see that you're calling from 192.168.1.2 so I'll forward all information packets to your physical MAC address 01:23:45:67:89:AB."

How to find my MAC address

Stride ane. Click the 'Beginning' carte

Start Menu

Step two. Open the command prompt window

Launch the Windows 7 CMD Prompt

Run as Admin

Navigate to: Accessories > Command Prompt
Right-click and choose 'Run as Administrator'.

Pace three. Type 'ipconfig /all' into the command prompt

Using Windows CMD prompt to display your private IP address

Windows CMD prompt

Step 4. Locate the Network Interface Controller (NIC) and look for "Physical Address."

Use the CMD prompt to find the physical MAC address of your network controllers

Physical MAC Address

What are the components of a MAC accost?

A MAC accost is 48 $.25 long and is commonly written every bit a sequence of 12 digit hexadecimal digits. The first half-dozen hexadecimal digits place the manufacturer. The terminal vi digits represent the serial number of the device. Consequently, every MAC accost is unique.

The showtime six digits are known as the Organizational Unique Identifier (OUI) which is assigned by the IEEE Standards Association. Therefore, if y'all have a device and you lot are unsure who manufactured information technology, you lot tin can perform a search online using the Associations website:
http://standards.ieee.org/develop/regauth/oui/public.html

Ok, let's recap:
• IP addresses are logical addresses used to observe networks
• MAC addresses are concrete hardware identifiers programmed into a device
• MAC addresses are communicated within the boundaries of a single network such as your LAN