When a MAC address itself is unique, why do we still need an IP address to uniquely identify a system on a network?
It is not possible to route a MAC address since it works on a layer above Ethernet. To understand why IP addressing is used in a computer network or over the internet you need to understand how IP routing works. Basic IP Routing When your computer (PC1) wants to send a packet to some IP address (IPv4) like x.x.x.x, then the first check is if the destination address is in the same IP network as the PC1 itself. If x.x.x.x is in the same network, then the destination IP can be reached directly, otherwise the packet needs to be sent to the route configured on PC1 and if a route for the destination network / host is not configured explicitly, the packet is routed to the default gateway configured on PC1. Well that was about how IP routing works at a very high-level. Routers also use dynamic routing protocols and algorithms to find the best possible path. MAC addresses Once the packet has reached the local network of the destination computer, the communication happens over