What is a MAC Address?

A MAC address is a unique physical address assigned to each network adapter in a computer or mobile device. The most common format for displaying a MAC address is using six groupings of two characters separated by a hyphen or colon (example: ab-cd-ef-12-34-56).

Devices may have more than one network adapter, meaning they may have more than one MAC address. When providing the MAC address for your device to either the WiFi portal or to ITS for troubleshooting connection issues, it’s important that you give us the MAC address for the device’s wireless network adapter.

The instructions below detail how to find the MAC address for your respective device.

Computers

Windows devices

Open a Command Prompt -> type ipconfig /all and press Enter-> The Physical Address is the MAC address.

1. Click Start or click in the search box and type cmd.
   
2. Press Enter, or click on the Command Prompt shortcut.
3. In the Command Prompt window, type ipconfig /all and press enter.
   
4. Multiple adapters may be listed.  Each adapter should have a Physical Address.  The Physical Address is the adapter’s MAC address. Look for the "Wireless LAN Adapter".

macOS

Open the Apple Menu -> System Preference -> Network -> Wi-Fi -> Advanced -> The MAC address is the Wi-Fi Address or Airport Address.

1. Open the Apple Menu.
   
2. Open System Preferences.
   
3. Open Network.
   
4. Open Advanced.
   
5. Select the Wi-Fi tab. The Wi-Fi Address or Airport Address is your device’s MAC address.

UNIX or Linux

Open a terminal -> type ifconfig –a and press Enter.  The MAC address is often listed as HWaddr or ether or lladdr

1. Open a terminal.
   
2. Type ifconfig -a and press Enter.  ->  HWaddr or ether or lladdr is the device’s MAC address.
   
   If this does not work or if you are not able to find the MAC address, please consult the vendor’s documentation or man pages for assistance.  On many systems this command must be run with root privileges, or run using sudo.

Mobile Devices

iOS devices

(IPad, IPhone, IPod Touch or Apple Watch)

Open Settings -> General->About ->Wi-Fi Address

1. Tap Settings.
   
2. Select General.
   
3. Select About.
   
4. The Mac address is listed as Wi-Fi Address.
   

Android devices

Open Settings -> Connections -> Wi-Fi -> More options -> Advanced and locate the MAC Address.

1. Open Settings.
   
2. Open Connections.
   
3. Open Wi-Fi.
   
4. Open More options.
   
   
5. Open Advanced.
   
6. Locate the MAC address.
   

Other Devices

If you need the wireless MAC address for a device type that is not listed, please web search the name of the device and MAC address (ex: Roku TV wireless MAC address).

 

(Instructions inspired by this source)