What do the last 6 digits in a MAC address represent?

First 6-digits (say 00:40:96) of MAC Address identifies the manufacturer, called as OUI (Organizational Unique Identifier). IEEE Registration Authority Committee assign these MAC prefixes to its registered vendors. The rightmost six digits represents Network Interface Controller, which is assigned by manufacturer.

What does the last 3 bytes of a MAC address represent?

The first 3 bytes (24 bits) represent the manufacturer of the card, and the last 3 bytes (24 bits) identify the particular card from that manufacturer. Each group of 3 bytes can be represented by 6 hexadecimal digits, forming a 12-digit hexadecimal number representing the entire MAC address.

How is a MAC address 6 bytes?

MAC Addresses are 6 bytes (or 48 bits long), providing 281,474,976,710,656 addresses in theory. In order to make these addresses easier for humans to remember, these addresses are usually written as six two-digit hexadecimal numbers, such as 01:23:45:67:89:AB.

What are the first three bytes of a MAC address used for?

The first three bytes (pairs of hexadecimal characters) of any unicast address contain that vendor address component of the MAC address. The remaining three bytes carry the serial number of that vendor’s interface card.

What are the bytes in a MAC address?

These MAC addresses are 48 bits or 6 bytes long, so they are also known as MAC-48 or EUI-48. EUI stands for Extended Unique Identifier. It is written in hexadecimal characters as shown below: MAC addresses act as the physical addresses for local communications.

Which part of a MAC address is unique?

These manufacturers all place a special number sequence (called the Organizationally Unique Identifier or OUI) in the MAC address that identifies them as the manufacturer. The OUI is typically right at the front of the address.

How many unique MAC addresses are there?

281 trillion
This 48-bit address space contains potentially 248 (over 281 trillion) possible MAC addresses. The IEEE manages allocation of MAC addresses, originally known as MAC-48 and which it now refers to as EUI-48 identifiers.

What is first part of the MAC address?

The Block ID is the first six characters of a MAC address. The Device ID is the remaining six characters. The Block ID is unique to the manufacturer. The Device ID is based on the device’s model and manufacturer date.