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A comprehensive guide to discovering MAC addresses of devices connected to your network
Finding the media access control (MAC) address, also known as the hardware address, of devices on your network is a straightforward process. It involves using the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) to convert Internet Protocol (IP) addresses into MAC addresses. All major operating systems (OS) provide the 'arp' command, making it easy to find MAC addresses on the network. This article will walk you through finding MAC addresses on OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Linux OS.
Steps to Follow
For OS X
Launch the Terminal application. To quickly discover all MAC addresses, list all current entries in the ARP table by running the command:
- sudo arp -a
Check the IP target by pinging it. If the IP and MAC address pair aren't displayed, begin by pinging the target IP.
- ping 192.168.1.112
If the ping returns a positive response, you can inspect the ARP information using either of these methods. Both commands reveal the IP to MAC address mapping.
- sudo arp 192.168.1.112
- sudo arp -a
Operating System: Microsoft Windows
Access a command prompt. Quickly find all discovered MAC addresses by listing all current entries in the ARP table.
- arp -a
Verify the IP target by pinging it. If the IP and MAC address pair aren't displayed, start by pinging the target IP.
- ping 192.168.1.112
Upon receiving a positive response from the ping, you can inspect the ARP details using either of these methods. Both commands reveal the mapping of IP addresses to MAC addresses.
- arp 192.168.1.112
- arp -a
Operating System: Linux
Launch a Console window. Quickly find all discovered MAC addresses by listing all current entries in the ARP table.
- sudo arp -a
Ping the target IP. If the IP and MAC address pair aren't listed in the output, you need to 'ping' the target IP first.
- ping 192.168.1.112
Upon receiving a positive response from the ping, you can inspect the ARP details using either of these methods. Both commands reveal the mapping of IP addresses to MAC addresses.
- sudo arp 192.168.1.112
- sudo arp -a
Utilizing Linux's arp-scan Utility
On Linux OS, you can circumvent the need to ping individual hosts and then query for MAC addresses by employing the arp-scan utility. This utility simplifies the process of discovering all IP-to-MAC address pairs on a subnet.
Access a Console window.
Execute a command. The arp-scan utility offers various options, but the simplest approach involves issuing a command with a subnet parameter. This will generate an arp table of all network-accessible hosts and display the output on the console.
- sudo arp-scan 192.168.1.0/24
Helpful Suggestions
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When using Linux, employ the arp-scan utility to swiftly scan an entire subnet for IP-to-MAC pairs.
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If your ARP request yields no results, attempt to ping the host first and then resend the ARP request.
Notices
- Keep in mind that ARP is not a routed protocol, thus it only furnishes IP-to-MAC address information for your local network.
