COMPTIA A+ Practice Exam

Disable ads (and more) with a membership for a one time $2.99 payment

Ace your COMPTIA A+ certification with our practice exam. Engage with a variety of questions including multiple choice and performance-based, complete with hints and detailed explanations. Prepare effectively and boost your confidence for the big day!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

Practice this question and more.

How many characters does a MAC Address have?

12 Hex characters
10 Hex characters
16 Hex characters
8 Hex characters

The correct answer is: 12 Hex characters

A MAC (Media Access Control) address consists of 12 hexadecimal characters. These characters are typically represented in pairs, forming six groups separated by colons or hyphens, resulting in a customary format of XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX. Each pair represents one byte, and since one hexadecimal character represents four bits, the totality provides a unique identifier for network devices within a local area network. The format and total character count ensure that devices can be effectively differentiated from one another on a network, which is crucial for networking and communication processes. Each MAC address is designed to be unique to provide proper addressing for networking protocols. Therefore, the correct understanding of the MAC address format emphasizes the significance of the 12 hexadecimal characters used in its representation.