💻 MAC Address Converter
Convert MAC addresses between all standard formats — colon, hyphen, Cisco dot, binary, decimal & more
| Format Name | Separator | Example | Groups | Used By |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colon Hexadecimal | : | AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF | 6 x 2 chars | Linux, macOS, iOS, Android |
| Hyphen Hexadecimal | - | AA-BB-CC-DD-EE-FF | 6 x 2 chars | Windows, IEEE 802 notation |
| Cisco Dot Notation | . | AABB.CCDD.EEFF | 3 x 4 chars | Cisco IOS, NX-OS |
| Plain Hexadecimal | None | AABBCCDDEEFF | 12 chars | Databases, RADIUS, scripts |
| Binary | None | 101010101011... | 48 bits | Low-level analysis, hardware |
| Decimal Integer | None | 187723572702975 | Up to 15 digits | Spreadsheets, numeric DBs |
| MAC Address / Range | Type | Description | Protocol |
|---|---|---|---|
| FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF | Broadcast | Layer 2 broadcast to all devices | ARP, DHCP Discover |
| 01:00:5E:xx:xx:xx | IPv4 Multicast | Mapped from 224.0.0.0/4 range | IGMP, PIM, OSPF |
| 33:33:xx:xx:xx:xx | IPv6 Multicast | Mapped from FF00::/8 range | MLD, NDP, ICMPv6 |
| 01:80:C2:00:00:00 | STP Bridge | Spanning Tree Protocol root | IEEE 802.1D STP |
| 01:80:C2:00:00:01 | PAUSE Frame | Ethernet flow control | IEEE 802.3x |
| 01:00:0C:CC:CC:CC | Cisco CDP | Cisco Discovery Protocol | CDP / VTP |
| 02:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx | LAA (Locally) | Locally Administered Address | VMs, VPNs, Docker |
| 00:00:00:00:00:00 | Null / Zero | Unspecified / uninitialized | DHCP (some contexts) |
| OUI Prefix | Manufacturer | Common Devices | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:1A:11 | Google Home, Chromecast | IoT devices | |
| A8:51:5B | Apple | iPhone, MacBook, iPad | Multiple OUI blocks |
| DC:A6:32 | Raspberry Pi | Raspberry Pi 4/5 | Foundation block |
| 00:50:56 | VMware | Virtual Machine NICs | LAA range: 00:50:56:80+ |
| 02:42:xx | Docker | Container virtual NICs | Locally administered |
| 00:1C:73 | Arista | Network switches | Data center hardware |
| E4:8D:8C | Ubiquiti | UniFi APs, EdgeRouters | Multiple OUI ranges |
| FC:FB:FB | Cisco | Routers, switches, ASA | Thousands of OUI blocks |
| Bit Position | Bit Name | Value 0 Meaning | Value 1 Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bit 0 (LSB of Octet 1) | I/G — Individual/Group | Unicast address | Multicast / Broadcast |
| Bit 1 (2nd LSB of Octet 1) | U/L — Universal/Local | Globally unique (IEEE OUI) | Locally administered |
| Bits 2–7 (Octet 1 upper) | OUI upper 6 bits | Part of vendor OUI | Part of vendor OUI |
| Octets 1–3 (bits 0–23) | OUI block | Identifies manufacturer | IEEE assigned vendor ID |
| Octets 4–6 (bits 24–47) | NIC-specific | Assigned by vendor | Unique per device |
A mac address is a unique identity given to the network card, that one also calls NIC. It means Media Access Control address. Every device that binds to a net, owns one.
Think of it as a name at a party, it ensures that the data packets arrive to the right device in the local net.
What is a MAC address?
A mac address has a length of 48 bits. Here result 12 hex signs, with letters of 0 until 9 and A until F. One usually writes them with colons or dashes between every two signs, what eases the reading. The space for a 48-bit address allows more than 281 trillion possible mac address values.
The first three bytes of a mac address are called OUI, or Organisational Unique Identifier. IEEE gave them to producers. When a producer receives his OUI, it can give the last three bytes freely, while one avoids repeating combinations.
Even so, some makers sometimes repaet addresses. One gave the mac address during the production, so one sometimes says it is a burned or physical address.
A mac address works at the second level of the network stack, namely the data link level. They serve to recognise devices between each other in the same local net. One sees them only between directly bound devices in that net.
On the other hand, an IP address acts at a higher level and works also outside of the local net. Every packet that one sends with IP, stores both mac address and IP address values. The IP level cares about IP addresses, while the link level handles mac address values.
Both are needed.
In theory a mac address stays unique during the whole life of a device. Even so one can copy or change it. Some platforms gather mac address values for bad intent, because many folks do not no, how to copy one.
Also, copying is not that hard for those who understand the cause.
In modern phones one uses random mac address values. A local mac address is different for every network identity, what stops one from tracking a device through various nets and access points while one moves around. There are tools for searching a mac address and linking it to the producer based on the OUI prefix.
Not each network protocol needs mac address values. IEEE protocols like Ethernet and Wi-Fi use them, but others, for instance PPP, not always. VPN works at the third level, so mac address values stayoutside that.
Mac address and IP address values evolved separately, and so both have a role in the network stack today.
