MAC Address

What is MAC Address?

The IEEE Registration Authority maintains lists of unique identifiers issued under standards, and says its EUI-48 and EUI-64 values can be used as MAC addresses. The first part of a MAC address points to the maker, and the rest is a number the maker assigns, so a real hardware address identifies one network adapter.

You never route anything across the internet with a MAC address. It works only inside your home network, where the router keeps track of which device is which. Compare IP address, which can change.

Why does it matter on a fixed wireless connection?

Many phones and laptops now use a private, random address for each Wi-Fi network, and some change it over time. That helps privacy, but it means a reservation or a filter set on the old address no longer matches. The help article phone private Wi-Fi address shows how to turn it off for your home network only.

High Desert's service agreement does not describe tying your connection to a device address, and the company has not published how its radios are tied to an account, so this entry does not say.

What should I do about it?

Use the MAC address when you want a printer, a camera or a console to keep the same address on your network, as in DHCP. You find it in the device's network settings, labelled hardware address, Wi-Fi address or physical address.

Do not use MAC filtering as your only protection. It is easy to get around and breaks easily when a phone changes its address. The password and encryption setting in WPA2 and WPA3 do the real protecting.