2.2.6 IP packets
Whether playing an internet video game, chatting with a friend, sending email, or searching the Web, the data being sent and received is carried in the form of IP packets. Before being sent on the internet, data is divided into IP packets. Packet size is between 64 to 1500 bytes for Ethernet networks. Downloading a single song that is 3 MB would require over 2000 packets of 1500 bytes each.
On networks, each byte of data is transmitted one bit at a time. Network bandwidth, or data transfer rate, is expressed in bits per second. For example, a one megabit (1,000,000 bits) connection means that data can be theoretically transmitted at one megabit per second (1 Mb/s).
OpenLearn - Internet of everything
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