A media access control address (MAC address), also called physical address, is a unique identifier assigned to network interfaces for communications on the physical network segment. MAC addresses are used as a network address for most IEEE 802 network technologies, including Ethernet and WiFi. A MAC address is given to a network adapter when it is manufactured. It is hardwired or hard-coded onto your computer's network interface card (NIC) and is unique to it. Something called the ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) translates an IP address into a MAC address.