As far as I know, every machine has a globally unique MAC address. So why do we need local MAC address? We can identify the machines in a network using the globally unique MAC address.
MAC Address – Importance of Local vs Globally Unique Addresses
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The only reason to clone a MAC in this context, is because the ISP limits connectivity to that registered MAC. That would typically be the router supplied by the ISP -- you'd clone it's MAC onto the router of your choosing. Since the modem is the router these days (i.e. SBG6580), and few (if any?) ISPs still restrict connectivity to a "registered MAC", it's rarely done.
Personally, I do it to keep the same IP, and not have to reset the modem if I change routers. The modem does enforce a limited number of devices behind it -- (1) for most residential settings, (4) or more in business settings.
Don't confuse the network layers. Each layer has a specific purpose. Also, don't assume that there is only one protocol for each layer. Layer-2 has many protocols, some of which use MAC addresses, and some which don't. Of those that use MAC addresses, some use 48-bit MAC addresses, and some use 64-bit MAC addresses. There are also multiple layer-3 protocols. IPv4, the most used, but not the only, layer-3 protocol, uses 32-bit addresses, but it is being replaced with IPv6, which uses 128-bit addresses. You don't want to replace or upgrade all your layer-2 devices each time you want to run a different layer-3 protocol.
MAC addresses are layer-2 addresses, and they are used to deliver layer-2 frames on a LAN. Switches are layer-2 devices, and they use MAC addresses to create a table of which host is connected to which switch interface. A switch will look at the source MAC address to build its MAC address table, and it will look at the destination MAC address, look it up in its MAC address table, and deliver the frame to the correct port. Absent a destination address in its MAC address table, the switch needs to flood the frame our every other interface, and that is pretty inefficient and wasteful of bandwidth on all the other interfaces. Switches do not look inside the frame to inspect the IP address. This allows layer-2 and switches to carry any layer-3 protocol (IPv4, IPX, IPv6, etc.).
IP addresses are layer-3 addresses, and they are only looked at by layer-3 devices, e.g. routers. A router receiving a layer-2 frame will strip the frame from the layer-3 packet, and it will look up the IP address in its routing table to see to which interface the packet should be switched. The router will build a new layer-2 frame for the new LAN connected to the destination interface.
Layer-2 (MAC address, etc.) is for devices connected to the same layer-2 domain, and layer-3 (IP address, etc.) allows you to send data to other layer-2 domains.
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Not every device has a globally unique MAC address, and I'm not sure why you think that. Some layer-2 protocols (in particular the IEEE LAN protocols) use MAC addressing, but some use other addressing or no addressing at all. Of those that use MAC addressing, some use 48-bit MAC addresses, and some use 64-bit MAC addresses, but all are LAN (layer-2) protocols.
A vendor can buy an OUI from the IEEE, and they can assign the MAC addresses in its OUI as it sees fit. A vendor that makes ethernet, token ring, Wi-Fi, etc. NICs can reuse the same MAC address on all those. Some vendors reuse MAC addresses in different regions of the world.
If you mean the reason for the U/L bit in the OUI, that was part of the original specification. End-users can set that bit and assign MAC addresses in a way that works for them.