Uses of hexadecimal

3. MAC

Short for Media Access Control address.

This is the unique identifier assigned to a network card or Wi-Fi adapter.

The code identifies the card (or motherboard chip) and also the maker of that card.

It is a 48 bit binary number stored within the card hardware itself.

To make it a bit more people friendly the MAC address is usually quoted as a set of six hexadecimal numbers like this:

MAC address: 0A-14-FF-32-11-23

If you set up a WiFi network, one of the things you can do to improve security is to only allow devices with certain MAC addresses to connect to the network. This is common in companies who only allow authorised laptops or tablets to connect to their network.