The main function of a switch is to keep irrelevant
packets away from
hosts, but packets to unknown (to the switch) hosts get sent everywhere, just like a Hub would do.
yes - thanks all, it appears its a cross network 'issue'
thanks
If you're trying to get a MAC address across your own switches, you could try walking the switch's forwarding table (assuming SNMP availability). It's a cheesy way but works!
If you have CDP enabled switches, try one of the magic auto discovery programs out there. I use NetDisco (netdisco.org), but there is also nTop and a ton of commercial apps. CDP is cisco, but all the major vendors have a similar protocol. NetDisco has a web interface listing what macs/vlans showed up on what ports, duplex mismatches, and all your switch os/patch levels.
Patrick