

A NIC provides a device with a dedicated, full-time connection to a network.

What is a MAC address?Ī Media Access Control (MAC) address is the physical address of a device, which consists of 48 bits, embedded into the Network Interface Card (NIC). So, a device must know the destination MAC address to communicate locally through Ethernet or Wi-Fi. Their frames encapsulate packets that contain IP address information. This will help identify its corresponding IP address.ĭevices in the data link layer depend on MAC addresses for their communication. If you are in a situation in which you can't find the IP address, then you can resort to the MAC address of a device. Also, your computer might be unable to display its IP due to various reasons, and, as a result, you could get a “No Valid IP Address” error. It is worth noting that IP addresses can be masked through Virtual Public Networks (VPNs). Why it might be useful to locate a device using a MAC address
