How to Find Mac Address of a Wireless Card

The Media Access Control (MAC) address of a computer network card is the physical address of the machine. The physical address of the network card differs from the IP address in that it is always static and is not changed. An IP address can be changed, but the MAC address is a unique alphanumeric value that helps networks communicate. You can find a computer's MAC address using the Windows command prompt. The command that maps IP addresses to MAC addresses is the "arp" statement.

Instructions

1. Click the Windows Start button and select "Run." Enter "cmd" into the text box that displays and press "OK." This opens the DOS command prompt used to view the MAC address.

2. Enter "ipconfig" into the command prompt and press "Enter." This command is used to view your IP address, which you will need before you can use the "arp" command. In the section labeled "IP Address," you see your assigned IP. Take note of the address for the next steps.

3. Enter "arp -a <IP_address>" into the DOS command prompt. Replace "<IP_address>" with the IP address shown in step two. Press "Enter."

4. View the results. The arp command displays results after using the command. The second column is labeled as the "Physical Address." This is the MAC address of the wireless card.

References

• Computer Hope: Arp Command