For IT professionals and network admins, MAC address lookup tools are a powerful resource that can provide crucial information about connected devices to a network.
Using these tools, professionals can identify the device manufacturers and types and the other details of MAC addresses. As a result, their management efficiency and troubleshooting capability improve to a great extent.
Here, we will discuss the MAC address tools that will help you streamline network performance and improve security measures. And if you aren’t sure what MAC address is, just scroll down where I’ve given a gist with a bonus on the importance of MAC address lookup and how these tools can assist with network performance optimization.
MAC Address Lookup Tools
MAC Address Lookup
Finding out the device manufacturer or device name is super-easy with the MAC Address Lookup tool. It can display vendor name, location, and MAC details from your entered OUI or a MAC address.
This comprehensive tool provides information like OUI, vendor name, address, assignment type, and initial registration date. The Details tab contains the address range, block size, UAA, transmission type, and Wireshark information.
Its database, with 48K+ MAC address prefixes, gets updated as soon as there is an update on the IEEE directory and Wireshark manufacturer database. Therefore, each search result offers you the most accurate manufacturer data with a guarantee.
This tool also has a free and public Rest API. It can handle a large volume of requests and address them at low latency.
AllDataFeeds.com
AllDataFeeds.com has a MAC address vendor lookup tool that you can use for free. Enter your MAC address in any of the standard formats, and it will fetch vendor, block, and MAC address details.
Some of the crucial parameters displayed by this tool are OUI number, company name, company address, private vendor, MAC address validity, transmission type, administration type, block size, block range, block registration status, and assignment block size.
MACVendorLookup.com
Network admins looking for a platform to know vendors, locations, and other information from a MAC address should use MACVendorLookup.com. This online tool helps you get data about the company name, address, address range for the vendor, and type.
Even if you do not know how to find your MAC address, you can use its Windows, Mac, and Linux guide. It also has a REST API that you can implement in any application you are developing.
DNSCHECKER
DNSCHECKER provides you with the necessary information about the MAC address of your PC or any other device. You can use this for two different purposes. First, you can enter a MAC Address or OUI to know about its manufacturer. Or, you may enter a vendor name to find out the ranges and details of its MAC address.
The vendor data generated by this tool are address prefix, company name, company address, start address range, and end address range. Each of the information can be separately copied in one click.
It also fetches your IP address and displays it automatically in the top right corner. This platform also comes with a guide on how to locate the MAC address of your device.
WhatsMyIP.org
WhatsMyIP.org facilitates MAC address or OUI lookup solutions through this online platform. It lets you access the MAC address vendor database using a complete MAC Address, an OUI vendor prefix, or a vendor/manufacturer name.
When you enter the MAC address, the site will immediately show you the vendor name and the address prefix. By entering the vendor name, you can get the list of address prefixes along with the associated full vendor name.
Miniwebtool
You can also use Miniwebtool as the platform to find out about the vendor or manufacturer. All you have to do is enter the full MAC address or the first 6 digits of the hexadecimal address.
For the vendor lookup, it supports the common formats such as 34-C9-3D-4F-03-7B, 34:C9:3D:4F:03:7B, 34 C9 3D 4F 03 7B, or 34C93D4F037B. This tool uses the MAC address database from IEEE, so you can stay rest assured of the authenticity and accuracy of the results you get.
Miniwebtool also offers a list of MAC address prefixes depending on the vendors. For that, you need to enter the full or partial manufacturer, for example, apple or Apple Computer, Inc. Also, the results generated on this platform can be downloaded in PDF or JPG file formats.
MACVendors.com
Do you want to find MAC address vendor name instantly? MACVendors.com is here to serve you. It fetches the vendor list of 16,500 registered vendors directly from the IEEE Standards Association, which is updated multiple times a day.
This platform is devoid of any unnecessary overhead and returns you with the vendor name after you send it an HTTP GET/POST request along with the MAC address. It also comes with an API that you can use in your system.
Currently, the API gets 3.6 billion requests every year. The optimized and high-performance servers of this platform can seamlessly handle even 100,000 requests made by your application. However, If you are going to make less than 1,000 requests/day, you do not need to get the API key necessary or register on this platform.
Dan’s Tools
Another simplistic online tool for MAC address lookup is Dan’s Tools.
Here, users can either check MAC address vendor name or enter the vendor name to find out about the MAC address OUIs.
Udger
Udger is a useful resource that lets you find out about MAC address vendor information. The list of MAC address vendors used by this platform is provided by the IEEE Standards Association. The data is updated daily, so you can be assured of getting the latest and most accurate data.
Udger allows you to enter the MAC address and hit the Search button. Within a few seconds, it will generate all the vital information related to the vendor, such as vendor name, vendor code, addresses, country, and country code.
HWaddress
HWaddress is a minimal website for the MAC address lookup. This clutter-free platform does not distract you with loads of information or links. Instead, it only contains an empty field where you need to enter or paste the MAC address or the manufacturer name. After clicking the Search button, it displays the company name, OUI, and the MAC range.
This website also tells you how to write this MAC address in different styles like Unix, Unix zero-padded, no delimiters, etc. Moreover, after you access the interface, it will automatically show your public IP address.
If you are uncertain about the importance of MAC address lookup tools or how you can use them to solve network related issues, that’s what we will be looking at next. But first, for newbies, let’s explore what a MAC address is!
What is MAC Address?
The acronym of the MAC address is the Media Access Control address. It is a unique identifier usually embedded in the network adapter of a device during manufacturing. A MAC address contains 12 digits and is a 48-bit number. It consists of six groups of two hexadecimal digits. The groups are separated by colons or hyphens.
Computers, smartphones, routers, network switches, and every other network-enabled device have a unique MAC address. It plays a crucial role in various network operations, like device identification, security, troubleshooting, and monitoring.
Importance of MAC Address Lookup in Network Management
MAC address lookup is essential in the entire process of network management. It facilitates network monitoring, asset management, device identification, and network segmentation. Here is what network admins can do utilizing the MAC lookup feature:
#1. Device Identification
MAC address is the unique identifier attached to network interface controllers (NICs). By looking up the address, network admins can identify and distinguish devices on their network, which is important for tracking devices and managing inventory.
#2. Enhanced Network Security
It also helps to maintain a list of permitted devices and block unauthorized ones. It is also necessary for tasks like MAC address filtering, a security practice that allows devices with specific MAC addresses to connect to a network. Thus, admins can add an extra security layer to the network.
#3. Network Monitoring
MAC address lookup feature is also essential to monitor network traffic and analyze how the data flow works. Using MAC addresses, admins can identify the source and destination of network packets, get an idea about traffic patterns, and gain insights into network usage.
#4. Troubleshooting
To resolve any network issue, instant identification of the source is the key. When you have the MAC address details, it becomes easier to find the device associated with a particular MAC address for troubleshooting.
#5. Asset Management
Through MAC address lookup, organizations can record MAC addresses associated with devices and track the physical location, ownership, and configuration details of network devices. When itHow to Use MAC Address Lookup Tools to Identify Network Performance Issuescomes to warranty and network infrastructure management, it plays a significant role.
#6. Network Segmentation
Network segmentation means dividing a network into smaller and isolated subnetworks. This helps to improve network performance, security, and management. With MAC address data in hand, administrators can categorize the devices based on department, function, security requirements, etc.
How to Use MAC Address Lookup Tools to Identify Network Performance Issues
While you may fetch the basic MAC address from your computer or network device, you need additional data for network performance management. That information can be easily fetched using MAC address lookup tools available on the internet. Most of these are online tools and can be used for free.
The primary purpose of these tools is to share information about the vendor or manufacturer and the type of device associated with a MAC address. None of these tools are capable of directly identifying the network performance issues you or your organization might have.
However, the information generated by these online tools or resources can be used as part of the whole troubleshooting process. Here is how you can use the tools to locate and resolve network issues:
- First of all, you need to get the MAC address of your device or the device you think might be causing the issue.
- Here comes the use of MAC address lookup tools. Enter the MAC address on that tool to get crucial information, like the vendor name, the device model, and many more.
- With those data in hand, you can search for the common network performance issues that the particular device or manufacturer is known to have. You can even visit the official website of the vendor and check its support documentation to look out for any reported issues, firmware updates, or troubleshooting guides for that device.
- That’s not all; you can also use the tool-generated data to review and analyze the network configuration of the device. Check if the device uses accurate network settings for IP configuration, subnet mask, DNS servers, etc., since misconfigured settings can cause performance issues.
- If network admins want to evaluate the network infrastructure of the organization, they can utilize these tools to get details on all the MAC addresses of the network. Thus, they can identify network congestion or misconfigurations affecting network performance.
Thus, once you are familiar with them, you can use these tools to help in resolving network related issues.
Final Words
So far, we have discussed some of the best MAC address lookup tools that are available for free use. Moreover, it is quite easy to use these platforms, and these spare you from the hassle of installing any software on the local system. Some of these even offer the API feature necessary for bulk lookup.
Go through these online platforms, and you should be able to find the one most suitable for your needs.
You can trust Geekflare
At Geekflare, trust and transparency are paramount. Our team of experts, with over 185 years of combined experience in business and technology, tests and reviews software, ensuring our ratings and awards are unbiased and reliable. Learn how we test.