Game consoles including the Sony Playstation, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo Switch* as well as streaming devices like the Apple TV or Roku devices and many other smart devices need to be registered in order to be able to access the wireless network. These type of devices are not able to join the BOWDOIN wireless network because of limitations in each devices operating system. Bowdoin provides the BOWDOIN-PSK wireless network for this purpose. In order for a device to join this wireless network, the MAC or machine address must be registered and a device password acquired.
NOTE: You do NOT need to register your device if you are going to plug it in to an Ethernet port on the wall. You only need to register your device if using wireless.
How to find your device's MAC Address
The instructions below will guide you through getting the MAC address of each device.
PlayStation
Xbox360
XBox One
Wii U
Amazon Echo/Echo Dot
Amazon Fire Stick
Roku
Playstation
- Turn on your Playstation 4 without any disk in the drive and wait for the menu to pop up
- Navigate to the Settings icon (located on the far left).
- Select the System icon under the Settings menu.
- Select System Information.
- The MAC Address will be listed
- You will be looking for the wireless MAC address.
Xbox 360
- Scroll Down (if necessary) to "My Xbox"
- Go all the way to the right and select System Settings
- On the new screen, select Network Settings
- Select Configure Network
- Under Basic Settings, check to make sure IP Settings is on Automatic
- Go right to select the Additional Settings Tab
- Go down and select the second item Advanced Settings
- Toward the bottom of the screen you should see Wiress MAC Address. The MAC Address is the number below this.
- Be sure that you are looking at the wireless MAC address.
Xbox One
- If you are signed into your profile, navigate to My Games & Apps.
- **Skip this step if you are not signed into a profile. Select Settings.
- In the settings pane, select Network.
- Select Advanced Settings.
- Record the Wired MAC address on this screen.
- You will be looking for the wireless MAC address.
Wii U
- From the Wii U Menu, select System Settings.
- Using the Left Stick select the Internet icon and press the A Button.
- Select View MAC Address and wait a moment for the MAC address to be displayed.
- When you are finished, tap Back.
- You will be looking for the wireless MAC address.
* Unfortunately, the original Nintendo Wii is not compatible with our wireless network.
Amazon Echo/Echo Dot
- Download the Amazon Alexa app to your smartphone or computer and sign in with your Amazon account.
- Plug in the Echo using the included power adapter.
- Connect to the wireless network broadcasted by your echo.
Note: Broadcasting a network from your Echo is only allowed during setup. Broadcasting a network from your Echo after setup is a violation of Bowdoin's Acceptable Use policies.
- From the Fire TV or Fire TV Stick's home screen, scroll down to “Settings”.
- Next, scroll to the right and select “System”.
- Next, Scroll down to and select “About”.
- Next, Scroll down to “Network”. Your Fire TV or Fire TV Stick's MAC Address will be listed on the right in the format xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx.
Roku
To find your Roku's MAC address, you will need to follow the instructions from the official Roku website:
You can find your device MAC addresses on the bottom or back on your Roku player (depending upon model). If you need to go through setup to get your MAC address please choose PRIVATE NETWORK (NOT the Guest Network) and your MAC address will be shown. A MAC address is a set of six 2-digit pairs separated by colons (e.g. 00:0D:0A:1H:3G:5C). One set is for your wireless connection and one set is for your wired/Ethernet connection, if your Roku player model supports Ethernet.
Alternatively, from the Roku home screen, select Settings> About. The MAC addresses will be listed on-screen.