Re: PPP Mac Address

Tech-Archive recommends: Speed Up your PC by fixing your registry

From: Eugene Gershnik (gershnik_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 04/22/04 

Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 21:15:30 -0700

Dave Lowther wrote:
> "Eugene Gershnik" <gershnik@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:e6zVyB3JEHA.2012@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
>> David Lowther wrote:
>>> I'm curious about why Windows gives a PPP adapter a MAC address.
>>
>> Why not?
>
> Well my simple way of thinking is that the MAC address is the physical
> address for the Ethernet layer so if an interface isn't using
> Ethernet it really shouldn't need one.

Not really. MAC could be viewed as a [reasonably] unique ID for an adapter.
It is true that it comes from Ethernet but today it is used everywhere.

> One could include all sorts of meaningless attributes but obviously
> this isn't the normal way of doing things.

Let's call it an "adapter ID". This is quite meaningful.

>> Even for a new code its easier to give a MAC to every adapter than
>> require the code to constantly check for its absence.
>
> I suppose it really depends on what these fictitious MAC addresses
> are being used for.

As an ID mostly, I'd guess.

> I suppose one of the things I'm curious about is whether the MAC
> address for PPP adapters is just a windows bodge, or, whether there
> is some deeper meaning that I'm missing.

Apart from being an ID I've never seen any other use for it. 

--
Eugene

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Mac and printer cables?
    ... is supported on the Mac. ... Or Ethernet to Parallel. ... I've never seen or heard of such an adapter. ... Configuring the network printer connection can also be ...
    (comp.sys.mac.hardware.misc)
  • Re: MAC address spoofing - conflict?
    ... Ethernet switches split ethernet networks into different collision ... MAC spoofing should not be applicable to thoses environments as it ... Depending on switch behaviour, you may ... WiFi network, as it is a layer 1 share medium too. ...
    (Pen-Test)
  • Re: NAT implementation in an IM driver
    ... Just translate the addresses and ... media types and packet formats). ... but the packet format between WANARP and NDISWAN is fake Ethernet ... (with some fake data in MAC addresses fields), so you can plug an Ethernet IM ...
    (microsoft.public.development.device.drivers)
  • Re: W7 after 3 days of stress testing
    ... Unlike "Snow Job" Leopard there are no broken apps (did not even ... Ethernet, and finding none, I ordered a $5 USB/Ethernet dongle. ... So with W7 you have a lot fo copied features from Mac OS X, ... Works with Windows XP, not with Windows 7. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Re: W7 after 3 days of stress testing
    ... Unlike "Snow Job" Leopard there are no broken apps (did not even ... Ethernet, and finding none, I ordered a $5 USB/Ethernet dongle. ... So with W7 you have a lot fo copied features from Mac OS X, ... Works with Windows XP, not with Windows 7. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)