Do all hub ports have MAC addresses associated with them?

I noticed on my Linksys 4 port router that the LAN port (uplink port) has a MAC address associated with it. Also, the WAN port has a MAC address associated with it. Do all hub ports have MAC addresses associated with them, or just ports, for example, on a router that act as clients? Do network hubs have or use MAC addresses at all? Is there anyway to identify the hub by a MAC address? Or does a hub just connect all computers together?

A plain hub doesn't have its own MAC address because it doesn't have any network identity per se -- it is just passing packets around.

But any managed hub -- or the gateway/router/hubs that Linksys and other sells -- do have their own MAC address because they have some kind of network identity to them. The Managed hub port typically has a special network interface that can be connected to via an SNMP manager like OpenView or Unicenter. The Linksys and other router/hubs have a network interface that is managed with a web browser, although some managed hubs also can be managed with a Web browser, as well.


This was first published in February 2002

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