In this post we will discuss on a handy command on Windows PC to find out MAC address of Access Point the user is connected to. This is going to be pretty simple.
Start with command prompt and issue below command –
C:\Users\ipwithease>netsh wlan show interfaces
Name : WiFi
Description : Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260
GUID : d6f6ce28-e078-4890-aafa-40edeaff8c85
Physical address : 5c:c5:d4:04:b2:71
State : connected
SSID : IPWITHEASE
BSSID : c4:12:f5:40:a5:04
Network type : Infrastructure
Radio type : 802.11ac
Authentication : WPA2-Personal
Cipher : CCMP
Connection mode : Auto Connect
Channel : 149
Receive rate (Mbps) : 433.3
Transmit rate (Mbps) : 433.3
Signal : 95%
Profile : IPWITHEASE
Hosted network status : Not available
As shown above, the MAC address of Access Point is under BSSID i.e. “c4:12:f5:40:a5:04”
Infact on further drilling down on my home Wireless System where Internet Router is also provising the functionality of Access Point , lets see if The default Gateway and Access Point MAC address is same –
Once again, under command prompt following command is issued –
Step 1 –
Find out IP address of Default Gateway (which is working both as Internet Router and Access Point)
C:\Users\608885580>ipconfig
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : dlink.router
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.104
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
Step 2 –
View the Mac Address of IP
C:\Users\ipwithease>arp –a 192.168.0.1
Internet Address Physical Address Type
192.168.0.1 c4-12-f5-40-a5-04 dynamic
From the out , we see the MAC address of Internet Router (arp –a 192.168.0.1) and Access Point (netsh wlan show interfaces) are the same ie c4-12-f5-40-a5-04.
However scenario will be different when Access Point and Default Gateway are physical different devices ie BSSID and ARP out entry of Default Gateway will show different MAC addresses.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I am here to share my knowledge and experience in the field of networking with the goal being – “The more you share, the more you learn.”
I am a biotechnologist by qualification and a Network Enthusiast by interest. I developed interest in networking being in the company of a passionate Network Professional, my husband.
I am a strong believer of the fact that “learning is a constant process of discovering yourself.”
– Rashmi Bhardwaj (Author/Editor)
