Packet

How it is used

One of the most frequent words in the field. Packets are sent, received, forwarded, dropped, lost and captured. Strictly speaking, 'packet' is used at layer 3 (IP) and 'frame' at layer 2 (Ethernet), but in conversation people say 'packet' for both.

Example sentences

1. The firewall is dropping packets from that subnet.

2. Large files are split into thousands of packets that may take different paths.

Common collocations

• drop packets
• forward packets
• packet header
• packet size
• packet loss

Related terms

• packet lossA situation in which some packets sent across a network never reach their destination, usually shown as a percentage; it causes slow downloads, choppy calls and frozen video.
• packet captureA recording of the actual packets passing through a network interface, saved to a file so that engineers can analyse exactly what was sent and received.
• protocolA set of agreed rules that defines how devices format, send, receive and check data, so that equipment from different vendors can talk to each other.
• routerA device that connects different networks and decides, packet by packet, the best path for data to reach its destination, usually based on IP addresses.
• OSI modelA reference model that splits network communication into seven layers, from the physical cable (layer 1) up to the application (layer 7), so that problems and technologies can be described clearly.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• packet · Networking & Telecommunications

More terms: APIs, Networking and Security

• API
• endpoint
• REST
• JSON
• status code
• payload
• authentication
• third-party
• SDK
• breaking change
• request
• response