Getting a MAC Address with ASP.NET 4.0 and C#

This tutorial will demonstrate how you can get a users MAC address using ASP.NET 4.0 and C#.

Adding the Default.aspx Page
To view the MAC address we will be getting we will need a simple web site that will allow us to display some data. At this point, I have created a new ASP.NET Empty Web Site and need to add in a Web Form with a label. To do this:

1. Right click the project in your Solution Explorer.
2. Select Add New Item...
3. Select a Web Form.
4. Name it Default.aspx.
5. Click Add.
6. Open Default.aspx up to Design mode.
7. Drag and drop a Label onto the Web Form.

Yes, it is possible to find a good web host. Sometimes it takes a while. After trying several, we went with Server Intellect and have been very happy. They are the most professional, customer service friendly and technically knowledgeable host we've found so far.

Getting the MAC Address in C#
Next, we need to add some code that will grab the MAC address from the current computer and display it on the web page. To do this:

1. Open Default.aspx.cs up for editing.
2. At the top of the class add the following using statement:
   

   using System.Net.NetworkInformation;

3. In the Page_Load event method add in the following code:
   

   protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) {     //get all nics     NetworkInterface[] nics = NetworkInterface.GetAllNetworkInterfaces();     //display the physical address of the first nic in the array,     //which should correspond to our mac address     Label1.Text = nics[0].GetPhysicalAddress().ToString(); }

I just signed up at Server Intellect and couldn't be more pleased with my fully scalable and redundant cloud hosting! Check it out and see for yourself.

Let's review what this code is actually doing. First, we create an array of NetworkInterface objects and then populate that using the GetAllNetworkInterfaces method. Then, we display the physical or MAC address of the first NetworkInterface in the array which will correspond to your MAC address. Depending on your hardware you may want to use a different index of the array, however this will suffice for most machines.