MAC address identification

Identify your MAC address in Windows

MAC stands for "media access control." Sometimes the MAC address is called the hardware, physical, or ethernet address.

Boot your computer in Windows and use the command "ipconfig /all" from a command box (Start/Run/"cmd"). Write the address down.

Identify your MAC address in linux

Reboot your computer in linux and use the command "ifconfig em1" (for "em1" substitute the actual name of your interface, if different). Write the address down. Note also your IP or "inet" address (which is different from your MAC or "ether" address).

Identify your neighbor's MAC address, and he yours

Ask your neighbor for his/her IP address, so you can use it to ping him. Now, if not already in the GUI, invoke it ("startx &"). Bring up 1) Wireshark,  2) a terminal window.

In Wireshark set a filter so it will only caputre certain packets, including ping packets (Menus: Capture/Options/Capture Filter field - enter "icmp" and press the Start button.

In the terminal window execute "ping -c 1 <neighbor's IP>". Then make Wireshark stop capturing (Capture/Stop). Wireshark displays what it captured. Within the display, locate your MAC and your neighbor's. Make sure they agree with the values you determined before, when you used ipconfig/ifconfig.