Wireless Packet Sizes
Messages and data travel around networks in a packet. A packet is a structure that carries a segment of data. The recommended packet size is different depending on network types. Wireless network have one of the largest possible packet sizes of all network types. The largest packet allowed on a network is governed by a setting called the Maximum Transmission Unit, or MTU.
A packet contains a segment of data, which is carried in the packet body, or payload. The network programs that assemble the packet follow network protocols that dictate information that should accompany the data in the packet. This data goes into a structure on the front of the packet, called a header. Each data packet has several headers. The packet headers are counted as part of the packet size. The size of the header varies according to which applications use the data and which protocols are used to transport it. The larger the packet header, the smaller the maximum size of the data segment carried by the packet. Packet headers represent an overhead, and so one school of thought recommends that packets be made as large as possible to reduce the percentage of overhead per packet.
Each packet may represent only a part of a stream of data needed to be passed from one application to the next. Networks cannot allow one transmission to occupy the transmission medium for too long, because that would lock out all other computers on the network until the transmission has finished. Instead, each computer has to break up a stream of data into smaller segments. Other computers then have an opportunity to send their packets. This means each computer's transmission will take longer to complete, as it has to wait periodically for the packets of other computers to pass. However, this is a fairer way to share the limited resources of the network.
Wired and Wireless
Wired networks can only allow one packet to occupy the cable at any one moment. This is because data travels over the cable as an electronic pulse, which runs the length of the cable in an instant. Two packets on the wire would merge, rendering the data useless. Wireless networks do not have this problem because the radio waves that transmit data are split into a number of channels, meaning several packets can be transmitted on the network simultaneously. Wireless packets can be bigger than those on wired networks.
Wireless Packet Size
The MTU of wireless networks is 2,312 bytes. This size includes the packet headers. The Wireless MTU is considerably larger than the Ethernet recommendation for wired networks, which is 1,500 bytes. However, this larger size is only practical for traffic traveing within the network. Any communication intended to travel over the Internet would encounter problems, and would have to split up into smaller packets to pass through the Internet service provider's network. ISPs operate with the standard wired network MTU of 1,500 bytes. However, some add on an extra header when communicating with customers. This eight byte field reduces the maximum packet size to 1.492 bytes.
Stephen Byron Cooper began writing professionally in 2010. He holds a Bachelor of Science in computing from the University of Plymouth and a Master of Science in manufacturing systems from Kingston University. A career as a programmer gives him experience in technology. Cooper also has experience in hospitality management with knowledge in tourism.