Networking - Why do we need IP address when the MAC address is unique? Can't we communicate only with MAC address

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Why do we need IP address when the MAC address is unique? Can't we communicate only with MAC address?

Total Answers and Comments: 7

Last Update: July 24, 2009 Asked by: Nazeer

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Submitted by: rana_m_zeeshan

The actual answer is:-

Ip address(network address) is just use for transfering informatiom from one network to an other.travelling of information among networks uses ip addresses.

Mac addresses(physical addresses) is actually uses for distrubution of information.so, the summay is:-

1) carring of information from one network to another.
2) distrubtion of information(resources) is based upon mac address.

example:-
Network A , Network B and Network C are three networks.all network are having 5 nodes(client).if i want to send information to node 3 for network B.

Solution:-
1) first i send infomation to network by the help of IP address of that network(Network B).Ip addresses are unique on network layer(this is the fact).

2)after that i will send infomation to node 3 of network B by the help of mac address which is unique at layer 2(DLL).

Above answer was rated as good by the following members:
Shandud

April 16, 2007 08:49:18

koolyan

Member Since: April 2007 Contribution: 1

RE: Why do we need IP address when the MAC address is ...

MAC address is the basis on which communication occurs.However we need IP address to be able to create a routing table that enables faster commnication.Lots of communication algorithms take use of IP address ( Network address +SubNet masks) to be able to route packages faster.

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Overall Rating: -1

September 19, 2007 02:54:38

danish

RE: Why do we need IP address when the MAC address is ...

We need I.P address because when we work on LAN we can communicate without I.P address with the help of NETBIOS and WINS but in WAN we work on network layer and data frame becomes packet and packet need I.P address for routing

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September 30, 2007 20:58:22

rana_m_zeeshan

Member Since: September 2007 Contribution: 4

RE: Why do we need IP address when the MAC address is ...

The actual answer is:-

Ip address(network address) is just use for transfering informatiom from one network to an other.travelling of information among networks uses ip addresses.

Mac addresses(physical addresses) is actually uses for distrubution of information.so the summay is:-

1) carring of information from one network to another.
2) distrubtion of information(resources) is based upon mac address.

example:-
Network A Network B and Network C are three networks.all network are having 5 nodes(client).if i want to send information to node 3 for network B.

Solution:-
1) first i send infomation to network by the help of IP address of that network(Network B).Ip addresses are unique on network layer(this is the fact).

2)after that i will send infomation to node 3 of network B by the help of mac address which is unique at layer 2(DLL).

Is this answer useful? Yes | No

1 0

Overall Rating: +1

May 20, 2008 16:12:31

rama1972

Member Since: May 2008 Contribution: 1

RE: Why do we need IP address when the MAC address is unique? Can't we communicate only with MAC address?

IP address (network address) is just used for transferring information from one network to another network. Travelling of information among networks uses IP addresses. It is used to identity the network and host.

A MAC address (physical addresses) is used for distribution of information with in the network segment. The Ethernet uses MAC address to transfer data between hosts. When its used with IP network the IP address is resolved using ARP protocol to find the MAC address of the end device and the data is transmitted.

Port numbers are used by the TCP/UDP protocol to isolate the traffic which is multiplexed and sent by the user application. For example the user device can open multiple applications at the same time like multiple web browsers email and FTP. To identify the data individually the port number are used.

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July 26, 2008 09:16:03

hellohaneef

Member Since: July 2008 Contribution: 2

RE: Why do we need IP address when the MAC address is unique? Can't we communicate only with MAC address?

I agree with you that is MAC address is unique but for we cant remember MAC address for communication and also MAC address cant define which network you belongs to.

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January 30, 2009 08:59:23

niky_008

Member Since: January 2009 Contribution: 1

RE: Why do we need IP address when the MAC address is unique? Can't we communicate only with MAC address?

We need IP address becoz it shows System IP but Mac address shows identity of the device e.g. LAN card

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July 24, 2009 00:46:52

shandhiya

Member Since: July 2009 Contribution: 1

RE: Why do we need IP address when the MAC address is unique? Can't we communicate only with MAC address?

IP address is used to identify uniquely the device.

MAC is used to identify the node and to find the next hop address.

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