Difference between IP Address and MAC Address

IP is Internet Protocol and MAC is the Media Access Control. Learn the difference between IP Address and MAC Address.

Last updated: October 30, 2023 12:41 pm

Common

5 Min Read

In the field of information & technology, every one of you has heard a lot about IP addresses and MAC addresses. In this article, we will have a detailed look into both these addresses and the differences between them.

Contents

IP Address

IP address is the abbreviated form of Internet Protocol Address which we are using widely in our day-to-day lives. In particular, we engineers use it widely for data transfer in networks.

In general, the IP address is the address that represents a device’s identity when the device is connected to other devices using the internet or communication protocol like Ethernet.

In simple language, consider an IP address like your home address. As your home address is used to identify your location, similarly, the IP address is used to identify certain computers or mobile or any device connected to the internet or a network for communicating purposes.

IP address is provided by the Internet Service Provider. Here, an interesting thing to note is that the IP address can also be configured as per the requirement of the user while using a device for the local network by network.

For example, in industries, we change the IP address of the communication cards, servers, SCADA, and other stations that are connected locally. (We will talk about IPv4 in this article. IPv6 is the latest version of the IP address.)

MAC Address

Media Access Control address also termed as MAC address in our day-to-day life is also one of the important addresses of any device. MAC address is the permanent address of any device. The MAC address of any device can be considered as the name of a person. This does not change, it is permanent.

The MAC address can be used for device communication on the local network. But with MAC address alone cannot be used for the device to communicate on the internet. MAC address is given by the manufacturer and is stored in the network interface controller of the machine.

Difference between IP Address and MAC Address

The below table shows the comparison between IP and MAC addresses.

IP Address	MAC Address
IP full-form is Internet Protocol	MAC’s full form is the Media Access Control address.
Comes into the picture when the device is connected to the internet or to a local network.	Comes into the picture when the device is connected to the local network.
The internet service provider provides the IP address of the device in case when the device is connected to the internet. While, if the device is connected to a local network, then the IP address can be configured as per requirement. Sometimes the IP address is also assigned by the network manager.	The manufacturer of the device assigns the MAC address of the device which is permanent.
An IP address is related to the software part of the device.	MAC address is related to the hardware part of the device.
As the IP addresses vary, they cannot be used to detect a device.	As the MAC address remains the same, it can be used to identify a device.
An IP address is a numeric address that is internally separated by dots.	MAC address is an alphanumeric address which is internally separated by colons.
Example : 10.2.52.75 (IPv4)	Example: A1:B2:C3:D4:EE:1A
IPv4 is a 32-bit long address while IPv6 is a 128-bit long address.	The MAC address is a 48-bit long address.
In OSI, the IP address comes under the network layer.	In OSI, the MAC address comes under the Data Link layer.
To know the IP address of your computer or laptop, open Command Prompt & type “ipconfig” and then press enter. This will return you with your IPv6 and IPv4 address.	To know the MAC address of your computer or laptop, open Command Prompt & type “ipconfig /all” and then press enter. You can find the MAC address in the “Physical Address” column.