Eli5 Whats the difference between a MAC address a IP address and IMEI address?

Question

Is there one universal way to identify all electronics?

What is each one used for?

I got as far as understanding that an IP address can be changed and it’s recognized/used for networking and MAC addresses are physically imprinted on hardware but then why do we have IMEI?
Can you share an example where a (lay) person would use each of them?

Are there additional identifiers for electronics ?

TIA

In: 0

Answer 1

MAC address is a serial number present on every network interface. Most software allows to configure a different one if needed. It is used to communicate between two computing devices directly connected to the same network segment. Some sneaky programs running on the computer can use this number as part of an identifier for any purpose.

An IP address is used for sending data between separate networks through one or more routers. It’s a easier to assign readable, logical IPv4 addresses than MAC.

Answer 2

MAC address is a serial number present on every network interface. Most software allows to configure a different one if needed. It is used to communicate between two computing devices directly connected to the same network segment. Some sneaky programs running on the computer can use this number as part of an identifier for any purpose.

An IP address is used for sending data between separate networks through one or more routers. It’s a easier to assign readable, logical IPv4 addresses than MAC.