Find your Nest product's MAC address

Like computers and other devices that connect to Wi-Fi, each of your Nest products has its own MAC address: a unique combination of letters and numbers a device uses to identify itself on a  Wi-Fi network. 

If you’re having trouble getting your Nest product to connect to your network, you may need to add its MAC address to your router’s whitelist.

MAC filtering is used as a security measure to prevent any unknown devices from joining the network. Many businesses use MAC filtering on their networks, but some home networks do as well.

Connect to a network with MAC address filtering

All Nest products can connect to networks that have MAC address filtering enabled, but the MAC address must be added to the network’s whitelist.

• If you're connecting to a business network, but you’re having trouble, your IT administrator may have enabled MAC filtering. You’ll need to know the MAC address for your Nest product so the IT administrator can unblock it. This is also known as adding it to the whitelist.
• If you're connecting to a home network, you can find and edit the whitelist in your router’s settings. Since Wi-Fi router software varies so widely, check your router’s documentation to check how to add new devices to the whitelist. Once you’ve added your Nest product’s MAC address to the whitelist, you should be able to finish setup.

Important: Only change router or network settings if you are authorized to do so. Be aware of how these changes will affect your network. Always back up your router’s settings before changing anything.

Find the MAC address with the app

You can find the MAC address for your Nest products in the Nest or Home app as long as they’re connected to Wi-Fi and appear in either app.

Nest app

1. Open the Nest app .
2. Tap Settings  in the top right corner of the Nest app home screen.
3. Select the product that you want to check.
4. Tap Technical info. You’ll find the MAC address next to MAC or Wi-Fi MAC. Note: Don’t use the serial number next to 802.15.4 MAC. That’s the address Nest products use to communicate directly with one another over a low-power wireless connection.

Google Home app

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Touch and hold your device's tile.
3. At the top right, tap Settings  Device information.
4. The MAC address should be listed under “Technical information."

Find the MAC address on your device

Older Nest thermostats

If you have a Google Nest thermostat, the MAC address is in the Technical Info menu. Your thermostat needs to be installed and connected to power before you can open the Settings menu.

 You can find your Nest thermostat’s MAC address on the thermostat itself.

1. Press the thermostat’s ring to bring up the Quick View menu.
2. Turn the ring to scroll to Settings  and press the ring to select.
3. Select Technical Info, then Network.
4. Scroll down to find your thermostat’s MAC address.

Cameras, doorbells, smoke alarms, locks, security and other products

Newer cameras, doorbells, Nest Protect, Nest Guard, Nest Detect, Nest × Yale Lock, and Nest Connect don't have their MAC address printed on their labels. Follow the app instructions in the section below to find their MAC address.

Older Nest cameras

If you have an older Nest Cam Indoor or Outdoor, you can find the MAC address on the product label. The camera’s MAC address is the same as its serial number, which is printed on the back (Nest Cam Indoor) or underside (Nest Cam Outdoor) of your camera.

Connect to Wi-Fi that blocks unknown MAC addresses

If your Wi-Fi router has MAC address filtering enabled and only allows whitelisted devices to connect, you’ll need to add Nest product's MAC address to the whitelist. Refer to your router’s manual for instructions on how to do this.

You can often find the MAC address on the product itself. Go to the sections above for instructions. 

If your product doesn’t have the MAC address printed on it:

1. Temporarily disable MAC address filtering. Refer to your router’s manual for instructions on how to do this.
2. Continue setup with the app to connect your Nest product.
3. Re-enable filtering once you’ve connected it.