Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Data is chopped into packets of up to about 1,500 bytes that routes independently and is rebuilt at the far end. The figure is taken from IETF, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a technology fact?

Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Every internet message travels as numbered packets

Data is chopped into packets of up to about 1,500 bytes that routes independently and is rebuilt at the far end Internet Protocol, defined in RFC 791 in 1981, breaks a message into packets, each with a header carrying source, destination and sequence information. Routers read only the destination address and forward each packet along whatever path is free at that moment. Packets can arrive out of order or by different routes, so the receiving computer reassembles them by sequence number and asks for missing pieces again. It sits in Mondo's technology collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

IETF

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

Go further

Technology trivia

More facts like this

A TCP connection opens with three short messagesBoth ends exchange synchronise and acknowledge packets before any data moves, agreeing on starting sequence numbers Computers set their clocks through a server hierarchyThe Network Time Protocol assigns each time source a stratum number, and each level takes its time from the one above The domain name system has thirteen root identitiesEvery lookup starts at one of thirteen named root servers, each now copied across hundreds of machines Undersea cables carry almost all intercontinental trafficAround 99 percent of international data crosses oceans on glass fibre lying on the seabed, not by satellite One mistyped route can take a country offlineNetworks trust each other's routing announcements, so a single wrong entry can redirect or swallow traffic The world ran out of IPv4 addresses in 2011The last five free blocks were handed to regional registries that February, forcing a move to 128-bit addressing

Tags: internet, packets, protocols

Every internet message travels as numbered packets: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Data is chopped into packets of up to about 1,500 bytes that routes independently and is rebuilt at the far end. The figure is taken from IETF, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a technology fact?: Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.