MAC Addresses are the address which are specified by the Manufacturer.MAC address help in communicating with the devices with communicating with other devices over the network. They are 12 digit hexadecimal numbers in which first three set bits specify the manufacturer of the device and last 3 specify the specific device.
Random MAC Address
They are the address which are randomly generated by our device for our security reasons so that our device cannot be easily recognized over the internet. They are also 12 digit hexadecimal numbers.
How To Check the MAC Address of Device?
- Go to network settings at the bottom of the screen.
- Then click on change adapter settings.
- Then the second screen will appearlike this. Then click on Wi-Fi option.
- Now click on Wi-Fi Option and you will now see screen like the below image shown .
- Now click on details option.
- Now you will be able to see the physical address which is also known as MAC address.
What is MAC Address Randomization?
MAC address randomization refers to hiding of original MAC address assigned by manufacturer and instead of using an random MAC address generated by the device for the purpose of security so that the user device cannot be identified over the internet.
Advantages of MAC Address
- MAC address is unique provided by the manufacturer for each device just like we have unique id assigned by our college administration.
- MAC filtering can be allowed which increases our Secuity so that only specific devices can be connected until the destination just like there are different views provided by the database administrator.
Disadvantages of MAC Address
- MAC address can only identify devices within local networks and cannot be used to identify devices over internet.
- MAC addresses are assigned manually by the manufacturer so the device can only be connected to that no. of devices only.
Advantages of Random MAC Address
- Through the use of Random MAC address our devices cannot be tracked by hackers as our random MAC address keeps on changing with time.
- Random MAC address provides much more security as the orignal MAC address is unknown over the internet.
Disadvantages of Random MAC Address
- Some oder version of devices dont support Random MAC address.
- Due to rapidly changing of MAC address with time it may sometimes cause error.
At last both MAC address and Random MAC address are very important for networking but the use of specific thing depends on the work which we want to both. We have discussed both advantages and disadvantages of MAC and Random MAC address. If you feel any concept missing in this article then you may comment down below or can further improve the article.