If the addresses match, the packet is processed, otherwise it is discarded. If a network adapter is receiving a packet, it is comparing the packetвЂ™s destination MAC address to the adapterвЂ™s own MAC address. Packets that are sent on the ethernet are always coming from a MAC address and sent to a MAC address.

A MAC address can also be referred to as the burned-in address, Ethernet hardware address (EHA), hardware address or physical address. The address encodes the manufacturerвЂ™s registered identification number.

The MAC addresses are stored in the NICвЂ™s hardware, its read-only memory, or some other firmware mechanism. The MAC addresses are assigned permanently to adapters and cannot be changed as they are a unique identification of the hardware interface of network. The network interface card is used to connect to the Ethernet network. The MAC address forms the basis of network communication, regardless of the protocol used to achieve network connection.A Media Access Control address (MAC address) is a unique identifier assigned to a network interface card (NIC) by its manufacturer. This is the answer by anonymous:ДЄ MAC address is a 6-byte hexadecimal address that allows a NIC to be uniquely identified on the network. I was thinking of writing all about it by myself but this answer on Quora was so well written and knowledgeable that I thought of pasting it instead.

How are mac addresses unique