NetworkInterface.GetPhysicalAddress Method

Definition

Namespace:

System.Net.NetworkInformation

Assembly:

System.Net.NetworkInformation.dll

Source:

NetworkInterface.cs

Returns the Media Access Control (MAC) or physical address for this adapter.

public:
 virtual System::Net::NetworkInformation::PhysicalAddress ^ GetPhysicalAddress();

public virtual System.Net.NetworkInformation.PhysicalAddress GetPhysicalAddress ();

abstract member GetPhysicalAddress : unit -> System.Net.NetworkInformation.PhysicalAddress
override this.GetPhysicalAddress : unit -> System.Net.NetworkInformation.PhysicalAddress

Public Overridable Function GetPhysicalAddress () As PhysicalAddress

Returns

PhysicalAddress

A PhysicalAddress object that contains the physical address.

Examples

The following code example displays the physical addresses of all interfaces on the local computer.

void DisplayTypeAndAddress()
{
   IPGlobalProperties ^ computerProperties = IPGlobalProperties::GetIPGlobalProperties();
   array<NetworkInterface^>^nics = NetworkInterface::GetAllNetworkInterfaces();
   Console::WriteLine( "Interface information for {0}.{1}     ", computerProperties->HostName, computerProperties->DomainName );
   System::Collections::IEnumerator^ myEnum27 = nics->GetEnumerator();
   while ( myEnum27->MoveNext() )
   {
      NetworkInterface ^ adapter = safe_cast<NetworkInterface ^>(myEnum27->Current);
      IPInterfaceProperties ^ properties = adapter->GetIPProperties();
      Console::WriteLine( adapter->Description );
      Console::WriteLine( String::Empty->PadLeft( adapter->Description->Length, '=' ) );
      Console::WriteLine( "  Interface type .......................... : {0}", 
         adapter->NetworkInterfaceType );
      Console::WriteLine( "  Physical Address ........................ : {0}", 
         adapter->GetPhysicalAddress() );
      Console::WriteLine( "  Is receive only.......................... : {0}", 
         adapter->IsReceiveOnly );
      Console::WriteLine( "  Multicast................................ : {0}", 
         adapter->SupportsMulticast );
   }
}

public static void DisplayTypeAndAddress()
{
    IPGlobalProperties computerProperties = IPGlobalProperties.GetIPGlobalProperties();
    NetworkInterface[] nics = NetworkInterface.GetAllNetworkInterfaces();
    Console.WriteLine("Interface information for {0}.{1}     ",
            computerProperties.HostName, computerProperties.DomainName);
    foreach (NetworkInterface adapter in nics)
    {
        IPInterfaceProperties properties = adapter.GetIPProperties();
        Console.WriteLine(adapter.Description);
        Console.WriteLine(String.Empty.PadLeft(adapter.Description.Length,'='));
        Console.WriteLine("  Interface type .......................... : {0}", adapter.NetworkInterfaceType);
        Console.WriteLine("  Physical Address ........................ : {0}",
                   adapter.GetPhysicalAddress().ToString());
        Console.WriteLine("  Is receive only.......................... : {0}", adapter.IsReceiveOnly);
        Console.WriteLine("  Multicast................................ : {0}", adapter.SupportsMulticast);
        Console.WriteLine();
      }
   }

Public Shared Sub DisplayTypeAndAddress() 
    Dim computerProperties As IPGlobalProperties = IPGlobalProperties.GetIPGlobalProperties()
    Dim nics As NetworkInterface() = NetworkInterface.GetAllNetworkInterfaces()
    Console.WriteLine("Interface information for {0}.{1}     ", computerProperties.HostName, computerProperties.DomainName)
    Dim adapter As NetworkInterface
    For Each adapter In  nics
        Dim properties As IPInterfaceProperties = adapter.GetIPProperties()
        Console.WriteLine(adapter.Description)
        Console.WriteLine(String.Empty.PadLeft(adapter.Description.Length, "="c))
        Console.WriteLine("  Interface type .......................... : {0}", adapter.NetworkInterfaceType)
        Console.WriteLine("  Physical Address ........................ : {0}", adapter.GetPhysicalAddress().ToString())
        Console.WriteLine("  Is receive only.......................... : {0}", adapter.IsReceiveOnly)
        Console.WriteLine("  Multicast................................ : {0}", adapter.SupportsMulticast)
    Next adapter

End Sub

Remarks

The object returned by this method contains an address that is appropriate to the media used to transport data at the data link layer. For example, on an Ethernet network, this method returns the Ethernet hardware address.