The address is required for devices in a network to communicate with each other. This NIC, also called a network card, ensures that your computer can connect to a network.Ī MAC address is sometimes also called the hardware address or the physical address of a device. It’s a unique address that’s given to a NIC (Network Interface Controller) by the manufacturer. In this case, MAC stands for Media Access Control. Hiding your IP address, for example with a VPN, has a much greater effect on your privacy than hiding your MAC address.ĭo you want to know everything about MAC addresses? Read our full article below.Įvery device has a MAC address, but not everyone knows what this is. Your IP address is more important for your privacy than your MAC address, because the latter is usually not shared with websites.This is perfectly legal, but hackers sometimes use this tactic so that criminal activities cannot be traced back to them. one for your wifi connection and one for your ethernet connection. A device can have multiple MAC addresses, e.g.This allows a router, for example, to know where to send the data back to.

The MAC address is an identifier for other devices in the neighbourhood.This makes your device recognisable to other devices in your network, so that the data traffic between those devices is managed properly. A MAC address is a unique identification number, which is the network module in your device, with which you can connect to the Internet.

What is network mac address