# Medium Access Control **A [[Internet Protocol Suite#Link layer|link layer]] sublayer which controls the access of hardware to connected transmission links.** The **medium access control** or **MAC**, also known as **media access control**, is the IEEE 802 standards sublayer of the [[Internet Protocol Suite#Link layer|link layer]] which controls the *[[multiplexing]]* of and *access of hardware* to shared transmission links. The MAC consists of a [[channel access method]] and channel access protocols which facilitate the communication of multiple devices on the same transmission link in a *network segment*, sections of a network which are separated by [[Internet Protocol Suite#Internet layer|Internet layer]] routers. It is responsible for the processing and encapsulation of [[Internet Protocol|IP]] packets into *frames*, the *identification and addressing* of network interfaces within a network segment, the transmission of frames, and handling link layer *errors*. The addresses used in medium access control are known as [[MAC Address|MAC addresses]].