
- #What is the best website for a mac address look up software#
- #What is the best website for a mac address look up mac#
It’s common for the larger manufacturers of networking equipment to have more than one set of OUIs.
#What is the best website for a mac address look up mac#
The OUI is typically right at the front of the address.įor example, consider a network adapter with the MAC address “ 00-14-22-01-23-45.” The OUI for the manufacture of this router is the first three octets-”00-14-22.” Here are the OUI for other some well-known manufacturers. These manufacturers all place a special number sequence (called the Organizationally Unique Identifier or OUI) in the MAC address that identifies them as the manufacturer. Some well-known manufacturers of network adapters or NICs are Dell, Belkin, Nortel and Cisco. The MAC address is a string of usually six sets of two-digits or characters, separated by colons. Here’s an example of a MAC address for an Ethernet NIC: 00:0a:95:9d:68:16.Īs you’ve probably noticed, the MAC address itself doesn’t look anything like an IP address (see yours here).

#What is the best website for a mac address look up software#
Once again, that’s hardware and software working together, IP addresses and MAC addresses working together.įor this reason, the MAC address is sometimes referred to as a networking hardware address, the burned-in address (BIA), or the physical address. The ARP is like a passport that takes data from an IP address through an actual piece of computer hardware.

Something called the ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) translates an IP address into a MAC address. It is hardwired or hard-coded onto your computer’s network interface card (NIC) and is unique to it. Where IP addresses are associated with TCP/IP (networking software), MAC addresses are linked to the hardware of network adapters.Ī MAC address is given to a network adapter when it is manufactured.

Meet Mac.Įvery NIC has a hardware address that’s known as a MAC, for Media Access Control. The NIC is essentially a computer circuit card that makes it possible for your computer to connect to a network.Ī NIC turns data into an electrical signal that can be transmitted over the network. Typically it is tied to a key connection device in your computer called the network interface card, or NIC. So not surprisingly, along with an IP address (which is networks software), there’s also a hardware address. Whether you work in a wired network office or a wireless one, one thing is common for both environments: It takes both network software and hardware (cables, routers, etc.) to transfer data from your computer to another-or from a computer thousands of miles away to yours.Īnd in the end, to get the data you want right to YOU, it comes down to addresses.
