MAC Address

A media access control address (MAC address) of a computer is a unique identifier assigned

to network interfaces for communications at the data link layer of a network segment. MAC

addresses are used as a network address for most IEEE 802 network technologies,

including Ethernet and Wi-Fi. Logically, MAC addresses are used in the media access

control protocol sublayer of the OSI reference model.

MAC addresses are most often assigned by the manufacturer of a network interface

controller (NIC) and are stored in its hardware, such as the card's read-only memory or

some other firmware mechanism. If assigned by the manufacturer, a MAC address usually

encodes the manufacturer's registered identification number and may be referred to as the

burned-in address (BIA). It may also be known as an Ethernet hardware address (EHA),

hardware address or physical address (not to be confused with a memory physical address).

This can be contrasted to a programmed address, where the host device issues commands

to the NIC to use an arbitrary address.

A Physical address or MAC address is a 12-digit hexadecimal numbers (48-bits) flat address

burned into the ROM of the NIC card which is a Layer1 device of the OSI model. This is

divided into 24-bit vendor code and 24-bit serial address. This is unique for each system and

cannot be changed. In computing, a physical address, also real address, is the memory

address that is represented in the form of a binary number on the address bus circuitry in

order to enable the data bus to access a particular storage cell of main memory. A MAC

address usually encodes the manufacturer's registered identification number. It may also be

known as an Ethernet Hardware Address (EHA), hardware address, adapter address, or

physical address. The MAC protocol encapsulates a SDU (payload data) by adding a 14

byte header (Protocol Control Information (PCI)) before the data and appending a 4-byte

(32-bit) Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) after the data. The entire frame is preceded by a

small idle period (the minimum inter-frame gap, 9.6 microseconds (S)) and a 8 byte

preamble (including the start of frame delimiter). Three numbering spaces, managed by the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), are in common use for formulating a

MAC address: MAC-48, EUI-48, and EUI-64. Where "EUI" stands for Extended Unique

Identifier.

MAC Address Filtering

MAC Address filtering is a technique that is implemented on many wireless networks to filter

which devices are able to connect to the wireless network. MAC Address filtering allows an

administrator to allow specific devices to connect to the network while blocking all other

devices. MAC Address filtering is a free service provided by most routers and/or access

points and prevents unauthorized users from downloading illegal content, accessing network

resources, and using additional bandwidth.

MAC Address filtering is accessible through most routers and can be activated by entering

the URL of the routers control panel, which is printed on the back of the router, into any web

browser and navigating to the Security menu. From here, the user should see something

along the lines of MAC Address Filtering, MAC Filter, or Source MAC Filtering. This

menu will allow the user to enter a devices MAC address into the Allowed or Blocked list,

which will allow or block that device from accessing the network.

A devices MAC Address can be found by opening the Start menu, selecting Run, entering

getmac, and clicking OK. Alternatively, the user can enter cmd, click OK, and then enter

ipconfig /all. The user can look for the Physical Address, which is the MAC Address, and

enter it into the appropriate field on the routers MAC Address filter.

References :

http://www.ijera.com/papers/Vol2_issue3/CB23474480.pdf

http://www.tech-faq.com/mac-address-filtering.html