Spotted a MAC address on your network and don’t know which device it belongs to? Each manufacturer has their own set of MAC addresses, so it’s normally possible to identify the equipment maker from the MAC. Your MAC address will be listed as Wi-Fi Address. Scroll down the left-hand side and look for General and then click About. On the Samsung Galaxy S9, for example, you find it by opening the Settings app, scrolling down to About Phone and then clicking Status. This varies from handet to handset, but it will generally be tucked away in the settings somewhere. How do I find my Android phone’s MAC address? You should now see something called Wi-Fi or Airport MAC Address, which is of course the magic string of numbers and letters you’re looking for. In the window that appears, click on Advanced in the bottom left. To get your Mac’s MAC address, click on the Apple icon in the top left-hand corner, and open System Preferences. This is your Windows computer’s MAC address. Under Ethernet Adapter/Wireless Network Connection, a physical address will be listed, such as: 00-1F-52-S0-01-3A. In the window that appears, type the following, then press Enter: To find a MAC address in Windows, type “cmd” into the Windows search box and open the Command Prompt ‘app’ that appears in the search results. So if someone were to obtain your Wi-Fi password, for instance, they still wouldn’t be given access to your network. Some routers also allow you to block devices other than those with an approved MAC address. So, if you’re trying to work out what a device connected to your router is, knowing its MAC address can help. However, the MAC address will always remain the same. The IP address is normally assigned by the router every time the device connects, which means it’s constantly changing. However, some devices may only list an IP address and a MAC address.

If you go into your router’s settings and find a list of devices connected to your network, most will have a fairly obvious identifier, such as “Galaxy S9” for your Samsung smartphone. It can be useful for identifying hardware on your network. This is set at the factory where the device is manufactured and can’t be changed by the user. MAC in this instance stands for Media Access Control, not a shorthand for Macintosh.Īs we explained above, any device that connects to your router – be it a computer, smartphone, smart speaker or Sky TV box – will have its own, unique Mac address. Read on to find out more about them and how to find the MAC address for your devices. Instead, it’s a unique identifier for any device that connects to your home network, either via Wi-Fi or cable to the router. But a MAC address (note the caps) is not directly related to Apple computers. Mac address? I don’t even own a Mac, you might be thinking to yourself.

How to find my mac address