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

A MAC (Media Access Control) address is a hardware address assigned to a network interface for a computer to use at a hardware level.

An IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number is a unique number- not really an address- assigned to mobile equipment like cellular phones and other devices that use certain mobile networks.

The two aren’t really used for the same purposes. A very vague analogy would be that a MAC is like your street address while an IMEI is like your car’s VIN number.

Answer 2

A MAC (Media Access Control) address is a hardware address assigned to a network interface for a computer to use at a hardware level.

An IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number is a unique number- not really an address- assigned to mobile equipment like cellular phones and other devices that use certain mobile networks.

The two aren’t really used for the same purposes. A very vague analogy would be that a MAC is like your street address while an IMEI is like your car’s VIN number.