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IP and MAC addressing

OCR GCSE Computer Science (J277) · Computer systems (Paper 1) › Networks, connections and protocols › Wired and wireless networks, protocols and layers

Practise IP and MAC addressing. 12 exam-style questions plus unlimited generated ones on this subtopic, at up to four difficulty levels, with full mark schemes and a progress tracker. Free, no account needed.

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Quick recall

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State what the letters MAC stand for in 'MAC address'.
Media Access Control
State how many bits are in an IPv4 address.
32
State how many bits are represented by one hexadecimal digit.
4

Sample questions

Written for this site in the style of OCR exam questions. They are not taken from real past papers.

Question 1Easy3 marks
(a) Which one of the following is a MAC address?
Tick (✓) one box.[1]
  • 192.168.1.25
  • 2001:0db8:3c4d:0015:0000:0000:1a2f:1a2b
  • www.example.com
  • 2C-54-91-88-C9-E3
(b) State what the letters MAC stand for in 'MAC address'.[1]
(c) State who assigns a MAC address to a device.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a) Answer: 2C-54-91-88-C9-E3
(b) Answer: Media Access Control
  • Media Access Control
(c)
  • the manufacturer (of the network interface card)
Question 2Medium4 marks
Describe the differences between an IP address and a MAC address.[4]
Show the answer and mark scheme
  • an IP address is assigned by the network / can change when the device joins a different network
  • a MAC address is assigned by the manufacturer / is fixed and unique to the network interface card
  • IP addresses are used to route data between networks / across the Internet
  • MAC addresses are used to identify devices within a local network, e.g. by switches
  • IPv4 addresses are 32 bits written in denary, whereas MAC addresses are 48 bits written in hexadecimal
Question 3Hard4 marks
Explain why data sent across the Internet uses both IP addresses and MAC addresses.[4]
Show the answer and mark scheme
  • the destination IP address identifies the device / network the data is going to across the Internet
  • routers use the IP address to forward packets between networks
  • a MAC address identifies a particular device's network interface on a local network
  • switches use MAC addresses to deliver data to the correct device within the LAN
  • so the IP address gets the data to the right network and the MAC address gets it to the right device on that network

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