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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-30T10:01:21+00:00

I know this maybe a stupid question but maybe I’m just confused with the

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I know this maybe a stupid question but maybe I’m just confused with the concept of mac address.

As far as I know, each device has its own mac address. For example, a wiFi interface has its own mac address. If all devices has its own mac address, then the device for 3g must also have a mac address. This is true for iPhones because the 3g in iPhone still gives a mac address. However, in Android, only the mac address for wiFi can be determined. There is no mac address for 3g. Or I’m not sure if it is just not accessible. Can you explain why Android doesn’t have a mac address for 3g?

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  1. Editorial Team

    I believe that MAC address is specific to network technologies that implement the IEEE 802 standard, such as ethernet. 3G is not an IEEE 802 network, so MAC address really doesnt apply.

    That said, there should be very few reasons to use the MAC address in your app, unless youre writing a network driver or doing something specific with the TCP/IP network.

    Often people reach for MAC address thinking that it represents a unique device id, when really you should use something like http://developer.android.com/reference/android/provider/Settings.Secure.html#ANDROID_ID
    to get a unique id that will work across all of the different hardware combinations for android, some of which might include no IEE 802 network whatsoever.

    I suspect Apple is just being sloppy with their API and/or able to assume that ALL iOS devices have IEE 802 network hardware because they control the entire ecosystem. Does IOs give a different MAC address when on Wifi than on 3G?

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