MAC Address Vendor Lookup
NetworkLook up the vendor, country and organization behind any MAC address by OUI prefix using the IEEE registry. Paste a full address or just the first three bytes.
B8:27:EBRelated Tools
About MAC Address Vendor Lookup
The first 3 bytes of every MAC address form the OUI (Organizationally Unique Identifier), assigned by the IEEE to network card vendors. The OUI lets you look up which manufacturer made a card. This tool matches the MAC you enter against a built-in OUI database locally in your browser to identify its vendor, helping you recognize unknown devices during network troubleshooting. For example, the prefix B8:27:EB resolves to the Raspberry Pi Foundation, handy for identifying unknown small devices on your LAN.
How to Use
- Open the MAC Address Vendor Lookup tool
- Enter the address or query parameters
- Adjust the output options as needed
- Click the Query button; results appear in real time
- Copy or export the result
Use Cases
- Identify unknown devices — See an unfamiliar MAC in an ARP table or DHCP lease and look up the vendor to guess the device.
- Investigate access — Check whether a terminal on a switch port comes from the expected vendor and spot suspicious hardware.
- Asset inventory — Match device MACs to vendors in bulk to help build a network asset list.
- Forensic analysis — Extract MACs from captures and combine vendor info to trace communicating devices.
- Virtual vs physical — Tell whether a MAC belongs to a VM vendor (VMware, QEMU) or a physical card.
- DHCP lease audit — Cross-reference vendor OUIs against DHCP lease logs to flag unauthorized devices on the network.
- Penetration testing — Identify the NIC vendor of a discovered target from its MAC to profile the hardware stack.
FAQ
What is an OUI?
The OUI (Organizationally Unique Identifier) is a 24-bit prefix the IEEE assigns to vendors — the first 3 bytes of a MAC. All of a vendor's cards share its OUI, so the vendor can be looked up from it.
Why can't some MACs be matched to a vendor?
It may be a locally-administered address (LAA, with bit 2 of the first byte set) defined by a user and tied to no vendor, or the OUI may be new and absent from the built-in database.
Do I need the full MAC to find the vendor?
No. Only the first 3 bytes (the OUI) determine the vendor; the last 3 bytes are the vendor's internal serial and are irrelevant to identification.
Can virtual machine MACs be looked up?
Yes. VMware, VirtualBox, QEMU/KVM, and Xen all have dedicated OUI prefixes, so matching one of these usually means a virtual adapter.
Want to generate a MAC for a vendor instead?
Use our MAC Generator tool: fix a vendor OUI prefix and randomize the last three bytes.
What is a MAC address, and what is it made of?
A MAC (Media Access Control) address is a hardware identifier burned into a network card to uniquely identify a device on a local network. The standard form is six hex groups (e.g. 3C:52:82:00:1A:2B): the first three are the vendor OUI and the last three are the vendor's serial. It is fixed at manufacture and bound to the device, unlike an IP that changes with the network.
How do I find my own MAC address?
On Windows run ipconfig /all and read 'Physical Address'; on macOS open System Settings → Network → Details → MAC Address; on Linux/macOS use ifconfig or ip link and look for the ether / link/ether field. Wi-Fi and Ethernet adapters each have their own MAC.
What is the difference between a MAC address and an IP address?
A MAC address is a physical, data-link-layer identifier fixed to the NIC for use inside a local network; an IP address is a logical, network-layer address for routing across networks and changes as you move. Think of the MAC as the device's ID card and the IP as its current mailing address — packets use the IP to reach the right network and the MAC to reach the right card locally.