Difference between MAC address table and ARP table

The difference between the MAC address table and the ARP table can not be known and confused, but it differs as follows.

MAC address table

It is used by the switch for switching and consists of the MAC address and the corresponding port information ( there is no IP address information).

Dst MACTypeVLANDst Port
0123.4567.89abDynamic100GigabitEthernet 0/1
0123.4567.89 acStatic200GigabitEthernet 0/5

This table is required for switching L2 switches and L3 switches.Type Dynamic refers to entries in learning MAC addresses that are normally done, and Static is an entry configured in config when MAC address learning can not be done in a special case.

For Cisco, you can set it as follows

(config) # mac-address-table static 01-23-45-67-89-ac interface gigabitEthernet 0/5 vlan 200

ARP table

It is used by routing equipment such as terminals and routers to check the destination MAC address and consists of MAC address and corresponding IP address information.


PC, server, and L3 equipment that performs routing are used for NextHop transfer to routing and communication within the same segment.Click here for details. Type Dynamic refers to entries in routine learning of ARP and Static is an entry set in config when learning the ARP table in a special case is not possible.In rare cases, it may be necessary for communication addressed to NAT's configured IP address.

For Cisco, you can set it as follows

(config) # arp 01-23-45-67-ab-ce

Also, on Windows PC, you can check with 5 steps in the following three steps.

Windows key + R
⇒ Type cmd and press Enter
⇒ Type arp -a at the command prompt and press Enter