What happens if you have the same MAC address?

What happens if you have the same MAC address?

If two devices have the same MAC Address (which occurs more often than network administrators would like), neither computer can communicate properly. Duplicate MAC Addresses separated by one or more routers is not a problem since the two devices won’t see each other and will use the router to communicate.

Can two MAC addresses be the same?

4 Answers. It’s possible for two hosts to have the same MAC, due to spoofing, a mistake during manufacturing, or willful negligence on the part of the manufacturer. So, 1) In general, an Ethernet switch keeps a table of which MAC addresses are attached to which ports.

What does duplicate MAC address mean?

A duplicated MAC address means you have multiple devices responding to data requests as if they are the only device with that address on the network, or you have a switch that keeps changing the port assignment for that address because the switch keeps seeing the device’s MAC address moving from port to port.

Is MAC address same as physical address?

The Physical Address is your MAC address; it will look like 00-15-E9-2B-99-3C. You will have a physical address for each network connection that you have. Example of the ipconfig output.

Will MAC addresses run out?

Unlikely, at least any time soon. There are 16^12=2.81E14 possible MAC addresses, which works out to about 40 thousand MAC addresses per person on Earth.

How are MAC addresses used in routing packets?

When switch/router learns the nexthop MAC. along with that it learns the physical interface also via which that MAC is reachable. Hence while routing packet, firstly MAC corresponding to the destination IP is searched and then the physical interface associated with that MAC is searched.

What happens if two hosts have the same MAC address?

Upon receiving any frame, the source MAC is read and compared with the current switching table, and then added alongside whichever switchport it was received on. So if there are two hosts, both with the same MAC address, then the switch will update it’s MAC table every time it receives a frame from either host.

What happens if I get a duplicate MAC address?

The MAC address will be learned dynamically by the switch (like it usually learns MACs), but the difference is that once it is learned, it is bound to that switchport. Then, if the switch receives frames from a duplicate MAC on another switchport, it can place that port into a disabled state (shut it down.)

How is the MAC address of an Ethernet switch determined?

1) In general, an Ethernet switch keeps a table of which MAC addresses are attached to which ports. It bases this table on the source address of frames it receives during the normal operation of the network.