A MAC tackle, often known as a bodily tackle or {hardware} tackle, is a singular identifier assigned to a community interface controller (NIC) to be used as a communications tackle in a pc community. MAC addresses are utilized in most IEEE 802 community applied sciences, together with Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. A MAC tackle is usually written as a collection of six teams of two hexadecimal digits, separated by colons, for instance, 01:23:45:67:89:ab.
MAC addresses are necessary as a result of they permit community units to establish one another and talk on a community. They’re additionally used for quite a lot of different functions, similar to community safety, community administration, and troubleshooting. The advantages of utilizing MAC addresses embrace improved community efficiency, elevated safety, and simpler community administration.