Obtaining the MAC / ethernet address of a machine

The MAC address is a unique hardware address. If you have network problems, we'll probably need to know your MAC address, so that we can search for activity. MAC addresses are 12 characters, of digits 0-9 and letters A-F. They are normally presented as 6 groups of 2, separated by colons or hyphens. For example:

• 00:11:22:33:44:55
• 00-11-22-33-44-55

Occasionally you may see different presentations, such as:

• 0011.2233.4455
• 001122334455

Many modern machines have multiple network adapters, and it's important to select the right one - that is, the one you're reporting a problem for. For example, a machine might have some or all of:

• wired
• wireless
• bluetooth
• "virtual" network cards, such as VPN etc.

Follow the instructions below to find the MAC address for your machine.

Windows (Vista, 7)

• Open the "Start" menu
• Type "network and sharing", and hit return
• Select "change adapter settings" at the top-left
• Right-click the adapter you want, and select Status
• Click the Details... button
• The MAC address is listed as "Physical Address"
• You can copy this information to the clipboard by pressing Ctrl+C and then paste it into an email

Windows XP

If you have a "My Network Places" icon on the desktop:

• Right-click "My Network Places" icon and select "Properties" from the menu
• Right-click the adapter you want, and select Status
• Select the Support tab, and click the Details... button
• The MAC address is listed as "Physical Address"
• You can copy this information to the clipboard by pressing Ctrl+C and then paste it into an email

If you don't have "My Network Places", use the instructions below

Windows (2000, XP, Vista, 7)

• Open the "Start" menu
• Select the "Run..." item
• Type "cmd" in the box and click "OK"
• A command prompt will open up
• Type "ipconfig /all" at the prompt and hit return
• A list of information will be printed - you may need to scroll back up, or alternatively, try running "ipconfig /all | more" instead. Note down the MAC address of the correct network adaptor (there may be more than one - see note below)

Windows legacy systems (95/98/ME)

• Open the "Start" menu
• Select the "Run..." item
• Type "winipcfg" in the box and click "OK"
• A program will start that lists the network adaptors attached to your machine. Select the correct adaptor from the dropdown list and note down the MAC address

MacOS X (Tiger)

• Go to the Apple Menu and select System Preferences
• Click Network
• From the Show menu, select the adapter you want
• For wireless - select Airport. The MAC address will be listed as the "Airport ID"
• For wired - select Built in Ethernet. The MAC address will listed as the "Ethernet ID."

MacOS X (Snow Leopard)

• Go to the Apple Menu and select System Preferences
• Click Network
• From the Show menu, select the adapter you want
• For wireless - select Airport
• For wired - select Ethernet
• Click on the Advanced button
• Go to the Ethernet tab
• The MAC address will be show as the "Ethernet ID"

MacOS (older versions)

Go Apple Menu => Control Panels => Appletalk => Info.
Alternatively, Apple Menu => Apple System Profiler, under Network Overview/Appletalk/Hardware Address

iPhone

• Select Settings, General, About
• MAC addresses are listed at the bottom of the page

Nokia phones (with wifi)

Dial *#MAC0WLAN# or *#62209526# - your MAC address will be shown

• 
  

Blackberry (OS 6 and above)

• From the home screen, select Options
• Select Device Options, then Device and status Information
• Under Wi-Fi Information, look for WLAN MAC.

Blackberry (earlier versions)

• From home screen, press menu
• Choose "Options", "Status"
• Select "WLAN MAC"

Android

• From the Home screen, press Menu
• Tap Settings
• Slide the screen upward, and then tap About phone
• Tap Status
• Tap and slide up to view the Wi-Fi MAC address

Unix/Linux

Most versions of Unix can find the MAC address by typing "ifconfig -a" at a root prompt. The adaptor may be named eth0 (linux) le0/hme0 (Solaris) or some other similar mnemonic.

Printers

Most printers with embedded network hardware will print the MAC address as part of the self-test page. Often, the MAC address can be obtained through the front-panel configuration if the printer has one. Alternatively, the MAC address is usually either the last 12 digits of the serial number (of the network card, if it is a separate item) or is marked somewhere (usually hard to find).
Try looking for a string of the form "00-11-22-33-44-55" or "00:aa:bb:cc:dd:ee".