MAC Address Lookup
Find the manufacturer of any MAC address, one or hundreds at a time, and spot private addresses
Result
Enter a MAC address to see who made the device.
A private address is set by the device itself, usually a random one that phones and laptops use on Wi-Fi to avoid being tracked, so it does not name a maker.
About MAC Address Lookup
MAC Address Lookup tells you which company made a network device from the hardware address it shows on your router, in a network scan or in a log. Paste one address or a whole list: up to 500 lines at once, in any notation, with colons, hyphens, dots or none.
For each address you get the vendor, its country and the size of the block it belongs to, plus the same address in the other common notations.
It also recognises private and multicast addresses, so a random address from a phone on Wi-Fi is labelled as such instead of showing up as an unknown maker.
Key Features
- Bulk lookup: up to 500 addresses per run, one per line, mixed notations allowed.
- Any format: 00:1A:2B:3C:4D:5E, 00-1A-2B-3C-4D-5E, 001A.2B3C.4D5E and 001a2b3c4d5e all work, as does the first half alone.
- Most specific match: small blocks sold to a second company are matched to that company, not to the large block around them.
- Private address detection: self-assigned and randomized addresses are marked, with an explanation.
- Format conversion: every full address is shown in the other notations, ready to copy into a switch or a script.
- Copy and CSV: copy the results or download them as a spreadsheet.
How to Use
- Paste addresses: one per line, from a router client list, a scan or a log file.
- Press Look up: or Ctrl+Enter; results appear on the right in the same order.
- Read the vendor: the maker and its country are shown under each address.
- Check the badges: Private, Multicast or Unknown vendor explain addresses with no maker.
- Export: copy the list or download CSV for your inventory.
Common Use Cases
- Unknown devices on Wi-Fi: find out what the unfamiliar entries in your router's client list are.
- Network inventory: label hundreds of addresses from a switch or DHCP export in one go.
- Security review: spot hardware from makers that should not be on a network.
- Troubleshooting: match a MAC address in a log to the kind of device that produced it.
- Configuration work: convert addresses between the notations different systems expect.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a MAC address?
A MAC address is the hardware address of a network interface, written as six pairs of hexadecimal digits. The first half identifies the company the address block was assigned to, the second half the individual device.
Why does an address show as private?
When the second digit is 2, 6, A or E, the address was set locally rather than by a manufacturer. Phones, tablets and laptops do this on Wi-Fi to avoid tracking, so there is no maker to look up.
Why is a vendor unknown?
The address may belong to a block that was never registered publicly, or it may have been typed wrong. Check the first six characters against the device label.
Does the vendor tell me the device model?
No. It tells you who the address block belongs to, which is often the maker of the network chip rather than the brand on the box.
Can I look up only the first half?
Yes. The first six characters are enough to find the vendor.
Is the list I paste stored?
No. Addresses are looked up and shown to you, not kept.
Pro Tips
- Use the full address when you have it: some makers hold small blocks inside larger ones, and the full address finds the right one.
- Turn off private addresses for one network: phones let you use the real hardware address per Wi-Fi network if you need to identify a device reliably.
- Expect chip makers: a smart TV can show the maker of its Wi-Fi chip rather than the TV brand.
- Clean up before export: remove duplicates from a DHCP list first so the CSV stays readable.
- Check virtual machines: virtualization platforms use their own prefixes, which makes virtual adapters easy to spot.