Carnegie Mellon University
Office of the CIO  ›  Computing Services  ›  Services  ›  End-Point Computing  ›  Network Access  ›  How to Find Your Device MAC Address

Find the MAC Address

A MAC (Media Access Control) address, sometimes referred to as a hardware or physical address, is a unique, 12-character alphanumeric attribute that is used to identify individual electronic devices on a network. An example of a MAC address is: 00-B0-D0-63-C2-26.

Note: Many devices have multiple MAC addresses, so consider your device and whether you'll be connecting via an ethernet cable (wired) or over a wi-fi network (wireless) before selecting yours. 

Note: The CMU-DEVICE network requires registering with your device's true MAC address for a stable connection. Using a randomized, rotating, or privacy-protecting Wi-Fi address will cause connectivity issues on this network.

Connect Your Device

You will need to find your device’s MAC address to connect to the CMU-DEVICE and wired networks. Once you find your MAC address, learn how to connect below:

Computers

Sign in to your Chromebook. If you are connected to a wireless network:

  1. From the Network Panel, click the time (bottom right of the screen).
  2. Click the Network icon. 
  3. Click the name of the wireless network you are connected to under Known Networks.
  4. Click Network and scroll to find the MAC address.

If you are NOT connected to a wireless network:

  1. Open Chrome.
  2. Type chrome://system in the address bar and press Enter.
  3. Press CTRL+F and search for iconfig.
  4. Find the wlan0 (wireless adapter) or eth0 (ethernet adapter) section, and the MAC address will be listed. 
  1. Select Apple menu (top-left) and click System Settings.
  2. Click Network.
  3. Click the desired network and then click Details.
  4. Click Hardware. 
  5. The MAC address is listed below.
  1. Click Start > Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center.
  2. Click the network you would like to view the MAC address for.
  3. Click Details.
  4. The MAC address is listed under the Physical Address heading.
  1. Open a terminal or console window.
  2. Type ifconfig.
  3. The MAC address is listed as HWaddr in the format of 12:34:56:78:AB.

Smart Phones

Device MAC

  1. Tap Settings > General > About.
  2. Scroll down to Wi-Fi Address.

Wireless Connection MAC

  1. Tap Settings > Wi-Fi > then tap the i next to your wireless network.
  2. Scroll down to Wi-Fi Address.

Device MAC

  1. From Home, tap Menu > Settings > About Phone/Device.
  2. Tap either Status or Hardware Information.
  3. Scroll down to WiFi MAC address.

Wireless Connection MAC

  1. From Home, tap Menu > Settings > Connections. 
  2. Tap the Wi-Fi connection name. 
  3. Tap the gear for the current network.
  4. Tap View More.
  5. Scroll down to MAC Address. 

Note: Field names may vary depending on your phone's manufacturer.

Other Devices

Digital Assistants

Smart Devices