![]() ![]() The benefit for the end user is obvious: network stability. With all this fluctuation at Layers 1 & 3, network engineers have come to rely on the stability of Layer 2 and the MAC address to build stable networks. Even though it’s usually Wi-Fi in all of these places, the Physical Layer is also different: different bands, different channels, different settings, but still Wi-Fi.ĬLICK TO TWEET: CommScope’s Jim Palmer explains why MAC Randomization is a big deal. From home to coffee shop to office to grocery store and back home, the Network Layer changes at each location. For different Wi-Fi networks, it’s almost a given it will change. To understand why we think of Layer 2, where the MAC address lives, as the key to network stability, we need to look at Layer 3, the Network Layer. More on that later.įigure 1 OSI Model The key to network stability This sometimes comes to the detriment of the end-user. It’s always been required to make network communications work, like all of the layers, but with the variability of the Physical Layer, network engineers have come to rely on the unchanging nature of the Data Layer as a way to keep networks stable. The ability of the Physical Layer to adjust to our lifestyle means the Data Layer has taken on a much bigger role. A laptop might be wired to the network during the morning and later be wireless while you work on your porch. As devices move, the Physical Layer is constantly adjusting based on the situation. Today, we are constantly moving around a city or town, or just from one room in the house to another. The MAC address is used in the Data Layer.Īs we become a more mobile society, gone are the days of only being able to access information from specific places, like a desk or a kiosk. This medium, whatever form it takes, it known as the Physical Layer in the OSI model. That medium can be a copper cable, a fiber optic cable, or a radio. Medium Access Control (MAC, also called Media Access Control) addresses are how devices, wired and wireless, interact with the medium where they intend to send traffic. To understand why this is making waves with IT professionals, we need to get a little nerdy here. Apple announced a new privacy feature with the latest Apple iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and watchOS 7 using MAC randomization. ![]() MAC randomization sounds more like what would happen at your neighborhood fast food joint than a cause for rumblings throughout the IT crowd. ![]()
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