Your smartphone has various hardware and software addresses associated with it. The most common ones are IMEI number, MAC address, and IP address.
In this article, we explain the difference between your phone’s IMEI number, MAC address, and IP address.
IMEI Vs. MAC Address Vs. IP Address
Your phone’s IMEI number is a hardware address of 15 decimal digits that uniquely identifies your phone in a cellular network. IMEI number identifies the origin, model, and serial number of your specific phone. So IMEI numbers are globally unique, and no other phone can have your phone’s IMEI.
Cellular carriers use your phone’s IMEI number to register the phone in their networks. They can also block IMEI numbers of stolen phones from their networks.
On the other hand, the MAC address is a 12-digit hexadecimal number burned into your phone’s Wi-Fi adapter. Each phone should ideally have a globally unique Wi-Fi MAC address.
The MAC address is also a hardware address, but unlike the IMEI which uniquely identifies the phone in cellular networks, the MAC address uniquely identifies your phone in Wi-Fi networks.
Your phone’s public IP address, on the other hand, acts as your address on the internet. The websites you visit will see your traffic as coming from your phone’s public IP address.
However, unlike the IMEI number and MAC address which are permanent and unique to your phone, the IP address can change over time.
Your phone gets a dynamic public IP address every time it connects to a cellular data network or a Wi-Fi network. This public IP is only temporary, and you may get a different public IP next time you connect to the internet.
Is It Possible To Get The IMEI Number From The MAC Address?
It is impossible to get a phone’s IMEI number from its MAC address or vice versa.
IMEI number uniquely identifies your phone in mobile networks, and it is associated with your phone’s cellular modem.
On the other hand, the MAC address uniquely identifies your phone in Wi-Fi networks, and it is associated with your phone’s Wi-Fi adapter.
Usually, the cellular modem and Wi-Fi adapter of a smartphone are from different manufacturers, and they are not related in any way.
So it’s impossible to derive the IMEI number just from the MAC address and the MAC address from the IMEI number.
Is It Possible To Get The IP Address From The IMEI Number?
It’s impossible to get a phone’s IP address using only its IMEI number. IP addresses and IMEI numbers are not related in any way.
Unlike your phone’s IMEI number which is permanent, your phone’s IP address can change over time. Every time you restart your phone or activate the Airplane mode, you might get a different public IP address. So you can’t derive your phone’s IP address from its IMEI.
However, cellular carriers can keep IMEI to IP address mappings on their databases. So cellular carriers may be able to find the current IP address of a phone using its IMEI number.
Is It Possible To Get The IMEI Number From The IP Address?
As we’ve said before, there’s no direct relationship between IMEI numbers and IP addresses. A phone’s IP address can also change over time, whereas the IMEI number is permanent.
So it’s impossible to get the IMEI number of a phone using only its current IP address.
However, cellular carriers can keep IMEI to IP address mappings on their databases. So they may be able to find the IMEI number of a phone using its current IP address.
Is It Possible To Find The IMEI Number Of A Phone Via Wi-Fi?
You can’t find the IMEI number of a phone through Wi-Fi.
Phones don’t use their IMEI numbers to connect to Wi-Fi networks; they instead use their MAC addresses when they connect to Wi-Fi.
So you can’t find the IMEI number of a phone by inspecting its Wi-Fi traffic.
Conclusion
Your phone’s IMEI number uniquely identifies the phone in cellular networks, while the MAC address uniquely identifies the phone in Wi-Fi networks. On the other hand, your phone’s public IP address uniquely identifies the phone on the public internet.
Unlike the IMEI number and MAC address, your phone doesn’t have a permanent IP address. You might get a different public IP address every time you connect your phone to a cellular or Wi-Fi data network.
