Why Would you Need to Know the Mac Address of a Device?

MAC Address

The MAC address is an important element of computer networking. MAC addresses uniquely identify a computer on the LAN. MAC is an essential component required for network protocols like TCP/IP to function. Computer operating systems and broadband routers support viewing and sometimes changing MAC addresses.

Why Would you Need to Know the MAC Address of a Device Cisco?

An Ethernet MAC address uniquely identifies every Ethernet device in the world. Each vendor that creates network devices e.g., Ethernet NICs, wireless devices, routers, and switches preprograms these addresses into their devices.

What does a MAC Address Tell You?

MAC Address or media access control address is a unique ID assigned to network interface cards NICs. It is also known as a physical or hardware address. It identifies the hardware manufacturer and is used for network communication between devices in a network segment.

MAC Address

A media access control address MAC address is a unique identifier assigned to a network interface controller NIC for use as a network address in communications within a network segment.

Why do we Need IP Address and MAC Address Both?

So again, IP Addresses are logical and routeable addresses. And thats why computers have both MAC Addresses and IP Addresses. MAC Addresses handle the physical connection from computer to computer while IP Addresses handle the logical routeable connection from both computer to computer AND network to network.

What is the Aim of MAC Address?

The purpose of MAC addresses is to provide a unique hardware address or physical address for every node on a local area network LAN or other network. A node is a point at which a computer or other device e.g., a printer or router is connected to the network.

Why do we Need MAC Address?

MAC addresses are required to make a local Ethernet or wifi network function. They allow a network device to attract the attention of a single directly connected device, even though the physical connection is shared. This can be important when thousands of devices are connected together within a single organisation.

Why do we Need MAC Address in LAN?

3 Answers. You need to be able to identify a connection at all levels of the network stack. The mac address ONLY identifies the LAN adapter in the ethernet layer Layer 2 Simplified OSI model . The IP address TCP and/or UDP ONLY works in the IP layer Layer 3.

Why do Computers Need both MAC Addresses and IP ...

So again, IP Addresses are logical and routeable addresses. And that's why computers have both MAC Addresses and IP Addresses. MAC Addresses handle the physical connection from computer to computer while IP Addresses handle the logical routeable connection from both computer to computer AND network to network.