Wireless, Finding your device's MAC address

Providing a MAC address for your device is vital to troubleshooting issues with connecting to the campus network. Please use the information in this article to ensure that you are providing the correct address for escalated troubleshooting.

For instructions on finding a MAC address on a variety of devices, see Finding the MAC address on different devices (article courtesy of Northwestern).

Android

  1. Go to the "Settings" app on your Android device.

  2. Scroll down and tap on "About Phone" or "About Device".

  3. Look for the "Status" or "Network" section and tap on it.

  4. Find the option labeled "Wi-Fi MAC Address" or "Ethernet MAC Address". The MAC address should be listed next to it.

  5. If you can't find it in the "Status" or "Network" section, look for an option labeled "Hardware" or "Device Information". The MAC address may be listed there.

  6. If none of these options work, you can also try typing "ipconfig" into the command prompt on a computer that is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your Android device. Look for the "Physical Address" under the "Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi" section. This should be the MAC address of your Android device.

Apple iOS

  1. Go to the "Settings" app on your iOS device.

  2. Tap on "General".

  3.  tap on "About".

  4. Look for the option labeled "Wi-Fi Address" or "Ethernet Address". The MAC address should be listed next to it.

  5. If you can't find it under "About", try going back to the main "Settings" screen and tapping on "Wi-Fi". Find the network you are currently connected to and tap on the "i" icon next to it. The MAC address should be listed under "WI-FI Address".

  6. If none of these options work, you can also try connecting your iOS device to a computer with iTunes and opening the device information page. The MAC address should be listed under "Summary" > "Phone Number".

Apple macOS

  1. Click on the Apple menu in the top left corner of your screen.

  2. Select "System Preferences".

  3. Click on "Network".

  4. Select the network interface you are currently using (Wi-Fi, Ethernet, etc.).

  5. Click on the "Advanced" button in the bottom right corner of the window.

  6. Select the "Hardware" tab.

  7. The MAC address (also called the "Ethernet ID" or "Airport ID") should be listed in the "MAC Address" field.

Microsoft Windows

  1. Click on the "Start" menu.

  2. Click on "Settings".

  3. Click on "Network & Internet".

  4. Click on the network interface you are currently using (Wi-Fi, Ethernet, etc.).

  5. Scroll down and click on "Hardware properties".

  6. The MAC address (also called the "Physical Address") should be listed under "Properties".

  7. Alternatively, click on the "Start" menu.

  8. Type "cmd" into the search box and press enter to open the command prompt.

  9. Type "ipconfig /all" into the command prompt and press enter.

  10. Look for the network adapter you are currently using (Wi-Fi, Ethernet, etc.).

  11. The MAC address (also called the "Physical Address") should be listed next to it.

Important note about MAC address randomization:

Some device manufacturers have begun to offer MAC randomization options in the network settings of their devices to increase privacy for users. This can cause issues for us when troubleshooting though, as the MAC address provided may not show up in logs consistently. Apple has recently turned this mode on by default, and some Android phones may have it also.

Identifying a randomized MAC address

On Android phones after tapping on the network name in the Wi-Fi menu, you will see it under the Advanced > Privacy headers. Tap Privacy to change between using the device MAC and a randomized one.

On iOS (Apple) phones, after clicking on the network name you will see a setting for "Private Address". This turns MAC randomization on and off.

You can read more about MAC randomization here.