MAC addresses are very useful in diagnosing network issues such as problems with IP addresses.

What is a MAC address used for?Īll devices on the same network subnet have different MAC addresses. Think of the ARP as a passport that takes data from an IP address through an actual piece of computer hardware. Something called the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) translates an IP address into a MAC address. It is hardwired or hard-coded onto your computer’s NIC and is unique to it. Manufacturers assign a MAC address to a network adapter when it is produced. Whereas IP addresses are associated with a networking software called TCP/IP, MAC addresses are linked to the hardware of network adapters.

A NIC turns data into an electrical signal that can be transmitted over the network.Įvery NIC has a hardware address that’s known as a MAC address. The NIC is essentially a computer circuit card that makes it possible for your computer to connect to a network. It’s tied to a key connection device in your computer called the network interface card, or NIC. What is a MAC Address?Ī Media Access Control (MAC) address is a string of characters that identifies a device on a network. In the end, to get the data you want right to YOU, it comes down to addresses - specifically, IP addresses and MAC addresses.

Good article on the prestart command is at and then you would just have to figure out a script.Whether you work in a wired network office or a wireless one, one thing is common for both environments: It takes network software and hardware (cables, routers, etc.) to transfer data from your computer to another, or from a computer thousands of miles away to yours. Second idea would be that you could potentially do a prestart command on your boot image to launch some PowerShell voodoo magic and have it output a get-netadapter to a popup window, but you would have to have it hold PowerShell open until you closed the popup as the prestart command runs and then moves on to getting policy. This looks like it could be done on SCCM in principle but again I haven't ever needed to do this before starting a task sequence. There is an old article that shows how to do this on MDT at. If you could get WinPE to load BGInfo on start, it would chill in your corner of choice and you could use it to display whatever you want. I never specifically tried making BGInfo splash on my WinPE in the very beginning, but you may be able to get it to load as part of WinPe. Either use BGInfo to splash the info on your background or use an OSD Prestart Command on your boot image to pop a window with your MAC using a PS or VBS script.

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