So, when you connect a bunch of devices to the Wi-Fi, the router needs to be able to distinguish each device to route traffic correctly. Moreover, the MAC address for each device is truly unique in the world. That means every phone, computer, tablet, and more have a MAC address for the hardware that allows them to connect to your Wi-Fi.
This is a serial number that is encoded into every networking device when the device is manufactured. Routers and networking equipment use several things to identify devices on a network, and one of those things is the MAC address. How Can a MAC Address Be Used Against Your Wi-Fi Security? Videos or Images Leaked From Phones: How?.Tracking on Omegle: Can Someone Track You?.Hacking Phone Through Hotspot: Possible?.So if you want to learn all about what a hacker can do with your MAC address, then you’re in the right place. They can pretend to be you on the network, which is likely to be annoying more than dangerous.īut, if they get the MAC address to a router, they can spoof the network and potentially steal all kinds of information while you browse the internet. Your MAC address is labeled Ethernet ID or MAC Address, and should be six groups of two letters and numbers, separated by colons.Here’s what a hacker can do with a MAC address:įor the most part, a hacker can’t do a lot with your MAC address.This screen may look slightly different depending on whether you selected Built-in Ethernet or Wi-Fi in the previous step. On the resulting screen, look on the tabs across the top for the Ethernet or Hardware tab.For your wireless MAC address, select Wi-Fi or Airport, and then click Advanced. For your wired MAC address, select Built-in Ethernet, and then click Advanced. In the resulting network window, there will be network interfaces listed on the left.In the System Preferences window, click on Network.Click on the Apple icon in the top left, and click on System Preferences, or open System Preferences from your Dock.The Mac address will be displayed next to Physical address and is a 12 character alpha numeric string.Select Ethernet from the left hand side and select your Ethernet interface on the right hand side.Once the Settings page opens click on Network & Internet.In the screenshots below, it is Local Area Connection for Wired and Wireless Network Connection (MIT) for Wireless. For the interface you are trying to obtain the MAC address for (wired or wireless), click on the link on the left-hand column under View your active networks next to Connections.
Open the Start Menu and open the Control Panel.Please note that it may be necessary to scroll up if you have many network devices. For your wireless IP address, look for a section labeled "Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection." Again, your MAC address is labeled "Physical Address", and is a 12 character alpha numeric string.Your MAC address is labeled "Physical Address", and is a 12 character alpha numeric string. If so they will be labeled Local Area Connection 2, Local Area Connection 3, etc. There may be more than one Local Area Connection.For your wired MAC address, look for a section labeled "Ethernet Adapter Local Network Connection.".Result: This will bring your IP configuration in a verbose format. Result: This will bring up the Command Prompt. Click the cmd (Command Prompt) icon in the results.
Note: The screenshots below in this section are from Windows 7, however the same steps will also apply to Windows 10. NOTE: Each machine has its own unique MAC address. You will see the MAC address Listed beside "Physical Address (MAC). Locate the the adapter you want to find the MAC address for in the list (such as "Wireless Network Adapter" for your Wi-Fi Connection). When this opens, navigate to the Network and InternetĢ.) In the Network & Settings, click on "Advanced Network Settings, then select "Hardware and Connections Properties"ģ.) In Hardware and Connection Properties, you will see a list of information about all the network adapters installed on your PC. 1.) Open Settings by pressing Windows+I key on your keyboard.