Get The MAC Address of an ESP32

If you're reading this, it means you're setting up a receiving ESP32 to send custom commands to. Kudos! This will be super cool and allow you to control any/all custom things from your PolyCast5.

First, let's get that MAC address. This is the Media Access Control address that will tell your PolyCast5 who the data is being sent to. You will need any ESP32 device to start. Don't worry, they are quite cheap and can be purchased on Amazon.

Now that you have your ESP32 to receive the signals (super easy to use, don't worry), you have a few options to get its MAC address.

• Upload some basic Arduino IDE code that prints it out.
• Upload any code in Arduino IDE then scroll up to 'MAC'.

I would recommend the second option since it is easier, but either way you will need to install Arduino IDE which is a super simple and easy-to-use project coding environment. A download link can be found here.

After that, you will need to install the ESP32 boards manager for Arduino. This is needed so that you can build for ESP32 targets. To do this, in Arduino IDE go to File > Preferences > Additional boards manager URL > and paste:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/gh-pages/package_esp32_index.json

Then, you can go to the boards manager tab on the left and install "ESP32 by Espressif Systems".

With that done, simply connect your ESP32 up to your computer via whichever cable, then move your mouse to the top left of the screen and click on the 'Select board' box.

Then, just click 'Select other board and port' and select the port your ESP32 is connected to and the type of device you're using. I'm using an ESP32-S3, so I'll select 'ESP32S3 Dev Module'. If you're using a regular ESP32, you'd select 'ESP32 Dev Module', etc.

Great! Then just hit 'OK' and upload the default code with the upload arrow icon in the top left. It should compile for a minute then flash the code to your ESP32.

When it's done, you should have a long output log.

From there, simply scroll up to the top where it says 'MAC' and write down the MAC address listed. This is the MAC address of the device you just uploaded the code to.

That's all!

Now you can check out the tutorial below which walks you through setting up the actual Arduino code to receive commands from your PolyCast5. With this, you can connect the receiving ESP32 to control literally anything!

Happy casting!