Aetheros — 18:DF:C1 (MA-L)

A MAC address starting 18:DF:C1 belongs to Aetheros, typically seen on grid-edge computing hardware for electric utility networks. The prefix is a single IEEE MA-L (24-bit) block registered to "Aetheros" at 909 Montgomery Street, Suite 104, San Francisco, CA 94133.

Aetheros is an identifiable, currently active company, not a bare or abandoned registration. Its own site describes it as a "Global Leader in Grid Edge Computing," headquartered in Sausalito, CA — a different city from the OUI registrant address on file, which is a registered/mailing address rather than the current HQ; both facts are sourced and not in conflict.

The company's product is ÆtherOS (AOS), described by the vendor as a distributed operating system for grid-edge devices, running on Linux-based "edge cards" that interface with utility equipment such as meters, reclosers/sectionalizers, capacitor banks, renewables, and EV chargers. This device class is a plausible reason for the company to hold its own MAC OUI, and corroborates rather than contradicts the registration.

Only one MA-L block was found under the exact registrant name "Aetheros" across the repo's OUI registries; no matching rows appear in the MAM (24-bit multicast) or OUI36 (36-bit) registries, so this does not look like a multi-prefix vendor. No CVE entries were found for "Aetheros" or "AetherOS" in the NVD as of an August 2026 search.

Vendor

Aetheros [Confirmed] — the IEEE MA-L registry 18DFC1

Prefix / registry

18:DF:C1, MA-L (24-bit OUI) [Confirmed] — the IEEE MA-L registry 18DFC1

Device class

Grid-edge computing cards for electric utility networks (meters, reclosers/sectionalizers, capacitor banks, renewables, EV chargers) [Likely] — https://www.aetheros.com/products

Product

ÆtherOS (AOS), a distributed operating system for grid-edge devices [Likely] — https://www.aetheros.com/products

Company status

Active (careers page with current openings present) [Likely] — https://www.aetheros.com/

Other prefixes

None found for this exact registrant in MAM or OUI36 registries [Confirmed] — the IEEE MA-M registry (no match); the IEEE MA-S registry (no match)

IEEE assignment

18:DF:C1 → Aetheros, registered San Francisco, CA, US [Confirmed] — the IEEE MA-L registry 18DFC1

Registry / block size

MA-L (24-bit OUI); single known block for this registrant [Confirmed] — the IEEE MA-L registry 18DFC1. NOTE: IEEE's public OUI data publishes no assignment/registration date; a third-party date shown by some lookup tools for this prefix is a database artifact, not an IEEE fact.

HQ / country

registrant address 909 Montgomery Street, Suite 104, San Francisco, CA 94133, US; company site states HQ in Sausalito, CA [Confirmed registrant address / Likely HQ] — the IEEE MA-L registry 18DFC1; https://www.aetheros.com/about

Company status

active [Likely] — https://www.aetheros.com/

Device types

grid-edge computing cards for utility grid equipment (meters, reclosers/sectionalizers, capacitor banks, renewables, EV chargers) [Likely] — https://www.aetheros.com/products

Notable products

ÆtherOS (AOS) distributed operating system [Likely] — https://www.aetheros.com/products

Verified sample prefix

18:DF:C1 (MA-L, Aetheros) [Confirmed] — the IEEE MA-L registry 18DFC1

Other registry matches

none found in MAM or OUI36 under the exact registrant name "Aetheros" [Confirmed] — the IEEE MA-M registry (no match); the IEEE MA-S registry (no match)

Similarly-named but distinct registrants (do not conflate)

Aetheris Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (MA-L 9CFCD1); Aethera Technologies (MA-S, sub-allocation of the shared IEEE base 70:B3:D5); Aether Energy Alliance LLC (MA-S, sub-allocation of the shared IEEE base 8C:1F:64); Aether Services, Inc. (MA-M) [Confirmed] — the IEEE MA-L registry 9CFCD1; the IEEE MA-S registry 70B3D59B9; the IEEE MA-S registry 8C1F642F6; the IEEE MA-M registry B01F817

Security note

no CVE entries found for "Aetheros" or "AetherOS" in the NVD as of an August 2026 search [Likely negative] — https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?keywordSearch=Aetheros

Analyst note

a single-OUI registration, but the registrant is an identifiable, active company with a described product and a device class (utility grid-edge hardware) that plausibly explains holding its own MAC OUI.