Curiosity question on MAC address

[Paul in Houston TX]

I figured out the mathematical progression, but I don't know how to show
it here. The first two addresses work out to 65,536 and from a search can
go up to 48 addresses = really big number.


KenW

16x16 x 16x16 x 16x16 for the manufacturer designation
= 16,777,216 possible mfgs.
and 16,777,216 possible devices by each mfg.

 

[Paul]

All this math make my head hurt.

I got my MAC address from ipconfig, and did a search
on the web. And it's interesting how many blocks Asus
(my motherboard maker) has purchased. They used to make
five million motherboards per month, so a block would
only last maybe four months. I count about 35 entries,
enough for almost 12 years. I doubt Asus still makes
that many motherboard per month, so the blocks are
going to last a bit longer now.

http://hwaddress.com/?q=ASUSTek COMPUTER INC

It's too bad it doesn't show the date they were purchased.

Paul

 

[richard]

16x16 x 16x16 x 16x16 for the manufacturer designation
= 16,777,216 possible mfgs.
and 16,777,216 possible devices by each mfg.

there ya go. I'll buy that explanation.

 

[Ken1943]

I got my MAC address from ipconfig, and did a search
on the web. And it's interesting how many blocks Asus
(my motherboard maker) has purchased. They used to make
five million motherboards per month, so a block would
only last maybe four months. I count about 35 entries,
enough for almost 12 years. I doubt Asus still makes
that many motherboard per month, so the blocks are
going to last a bit longer now.

http://hwaddress.com/?q=ASUSTek COMPUTER INC

It's too bad it doesn't show the date they were purchased.

Paul

They also make laptops. Wonder if they have a formula for reusing
addresses.


KenW

 

[Evan Platt]

So why would you need 3 pairs to identify the manufacturer when there
aren't even 50 manufacturers?

There's quite a few more than 50, bullis.

http://standards.ieee.org/develop/regauth/oui/oui.txt

 

[Char Jackson]

They also make laptops. Wonder if they have a formula for reusing
addresses.

Regardless of the unlikelihood, I don't think they would risk it because of
the disruption it would cause if a collision were to occur within a local
network. It's not worth it.

 

[Paul]

Regardless of the unlikelihood, I don't think they would risk it because of
the disruption it would cause if a collision were to occur within a local
network. It's not worth it.

It would all depend on what the IEEE charges for a MAC
address, as to what incentive there is to be silly.

http://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/stellaris_arm/f/471/t/45633.aspx

"An IAB (Individual Address Block) of 4096 Ethernet MAC addresses
costs $550. An OUI (Organizationally Unique Identifier) of
24-bits' worth of addresses costs $1650."

If you don't make very much equipment (say, 100 prototypes),
then the IAB would be a pretty expensive way to do it. And one
of the other methods (effectively a sub-license), might
make more sense. If you're making Raspberry PI, then selling
a million of them will pay off the OUI in no time.

HTH,
Paul

 

[Tim Slattery]

Why are manhole covers round? (So they don't fall in.)
How many trucks are on a military base? (The expected answer is one.)
And finally, "Quick! Convert 7 octal to decimal!"

The first and third are fairly obvious, while the second is more of a gray
area.

Gray area? Am I missing something? Why should I know how many trucks
are on a military base? Or does the military define "truck"
differently than I do?

 

[Char Jackson]

Gray area? Am I missing something? Why should I know how many trucks
are on a military base? Or does the military define "truck"
differently than I do?

The answer they were looking for was 'one' (the rotating pulley assembly at
the top of the flag pole), but that ignores the real possibility that a
military installation might have more than one flag pole with a truck. There
might also be one or more rail cars, each with their wheel assemblies (aka
trucks). The cargo vehicles most people refer to as trucks are called
military vehicles, or sometimes military transport vehicles.

The above is a snapshot from a certain place and time, long ago and far
away. YMMV and it probably will, which only helps demonstrate how pointless
the whole thing was.