IP address
The numeric address identifying your connection on the internet, visible to every site you contact.
Glossary
MAC address
Also called: Hardware address, physical address
What is MAC address?
MAC address is a hardware identifier for a network interface, used only on the local network segment and never visible to the websites you visit. It is routinely confused with an IP address, which leads people to buy a VPN expecting it to hide something that was never exposed. Websites cannot see your MAC address with or without a VPN, because every router replaces it before forwarding the packet onward.
Why it matters
It is routinely confused with an IP address, which leads people to buy a VPN expecting it to hide something that was never exposed. Websites cannot see your MAC address with or without a VPN, because every router replaces it before forwarding the packet onward.
What most explanations leave out
What can see it is your router, everything else on the same Wi-Fi, and captive portals that use it to remember an authorised session. The countermeasure is MAC randomisation, which every current phone platform applies per network by default — not a VPN, which operates a layer above and cannot affect it. The full explanation is in our guide on whether a VPN changes your MAC address.
Related terms
Questions
- What is MAC address?
- A hardware identifier for a network interface, used only on the local network segment and never visible to the websites you visit.
- Why does MAC address matter when choosing a VPN?
- It is routinely confused with an IP address, which leads people to buy a VPN expecting it to hide something that was never exposed. Websites cannot see your MAC address with or without a VPN, because every router replaces it before forwarding the packet onward.
- What do most explanations of MAC address leave out?
- What can see it is your router, everything else on the same Wi-Fi, and captive portals that use it to remember an authorised session. The countermeasure is MAC randomisation, which every current phone platform applies per network by default — not a VPN, which operates a layer above and cannot affect it. The full explanation is in our guide on whether a VPN changes your MAC address.
Terms are defined here because they appear in our scoring rubric or in provider reviews, not to fill a glossary.