MAC Address

MAC stands for Media Access Control. A MAC Address is a hexadecimal value that is hard coded onto the Network Interface Card (NIC) of every device capable of being attached to a network. A typical MAC Address looks like 00-02-B6-2A-1B-24. The first three groupings of alphanumeric values are unique to the manufacturer of the card and the second three groupings are unique to the card itself. No two NICs have the same MAC Address so, in theory, a MAC address should uniquely identify a single specific computer on your network. While an IP address of a computer can change, a MAC address should never change unless you remove one NIC and install another. See the terms Broadcast Address, IP Address, and Network Interface in this Glossary for more information.