

But you may, for example, need to connect to a WiFi that uses MAC filtering to improve security. Normally, you won’t need to know your MAC address for everyday tasks like connecting to the Internet.

Plus, using a MAC address is a bit more secure since others can’t easily see your MAC address. But unlike an IP address, your MAC is provided by the hardware manufacturer and usually stays the same no matter what WiFi you use.

MAC addresses are similar to IP addresses: they’re both unique identifiers used to refer to specific devices on the network. It is commonly assigned to your device’s Network Interface Controller, meaning the hardware responsible for getting your device connected to the Internet. Your Media Access Control (MAC) address is a method for uniquely identifying a device on WiFi, Ethernet, and Bluetooth networks.
