An IP address is the location of your device on the internet, and a MAC address identifies the actual device. Read more on IP and MAC addresses or sign up to. On Windows 10, you can find this information more quickly than you could on previous.
Both MAC Address and IP Address are used to uniquely defines a device on the internet. NIC Card’s Manufacturer provides the MAC Address, on the other hand Internet Service Provider provides IP Address.
The main difference between MAC and IP address is that, MAC Address is used to ensure the physical address of computer. It uniquely identifies the devices on a network. While IP address are used to uniquely identifies the connection of network with that device take part in a network.
Let’s see the difference between MAC Address and IP Address:
| S.NO | MAC Address | IP Address |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | MAC Address stands for Media Access Control Address. | IP Address stands for Internet Protocol Address. |
| 2. | MAC Address is a six byte hexadecimal address. | IP Address is either four byte (IPv4) or six byte (IPv6) address. |
| 3. | A device attached with MAC Address can retrieve by ARP protocol. | A device attached with IP Address can retrieve by RARP protocol. |
| 4. | NIC Card’s Manufacturer provides the MAC Address. | Internet Service Provider provides IP Address. |
| 5. | MAC Address is used to ensure the physical address of computer. | IP Address is the logical address of the computer. |
| 6. | MAC Address operates in the data link layer. | IP Address operates in the network layer. |
| 7. | MAC Address helps in simply identifying the device. | IP Address identifies the connection of the device on the network. |
| 8. | MAC Address of computer cannot be changed with time and environment. | IP Address modifies with the time and environment. |
| 9. | MAC Address can’t be found easily by third party. | IP Address can be found by third party. |
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Both MAC Address and IP Address are used to uniquely identify a machine on the internet. MAC address is provided by the chip maker while IP Address is provided by the Internet Service Provider.
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Following are the important differences between MAC Address and IP Address.
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| Sr. No. | Key | MAC Address | IP Address |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Definition | MAC Address stands for Media Access Control Address. | IP Address stands for Internet Protocol Address. |
| 2 | Usage | MAC Address ensure that physical address of the computer is unique. | IP Address is a logical address of the computer and is used to uniquely locate computer connected via a network. |
| 3 | Format | MAC Address is of six byte hexadecimal address. | IP Address is of 4 bytes or of 16 bytes. |
| 4 | Access Protocol | MAC Address can be retrieved using ARP protocol. | IP Address can be retrieved using RARP protocol. |
| 5 | Provider | Chip maker manufacturer provides the MAC Address. | Internet Service Provider, ISP provides the IP Address. |