We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Networking

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What is Packet Loss?

By Ken Black
Updated: May 16, 2024
Views: 19,119
Share

Packet loss occurs when one or more packets being transmitted across the network fail to arrive at the destination. This can cause significant problems, especially in some applications such as Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), where information lost cannot be recovered. In some cases, it may be possible to correct for the loss of packets and allow data to be reassembled as it was intended.

To understand packet loss, it is first necessary to know that information is sent over the Internet in packets. These packets contain all the information needed for the sending computer to communicate the desired information to the destination. In many cases, these packets arrive without any problems. When problems do occur, packet loss can take place. It is one of the most frustrating aspects of digital communications.

There are many different reasons for this problem. In some cases, the signal may degrade over time. In other cases, hardware problems could cause packet loss. Other reasons include networks that have too much demand and corrupted packets.

If packet loss takes place, computers may try to recover that information. Once a packet is received, the receiving computer sends a signal to the sending computer noting it has been received. If the sending computer does not receive a signal for each packet sent, it will resend any packets for which it does not receive a signal.

In most cases, it is not a problem to resend the packets, but there are applications where resending packets is not possible. For example, in some types of online gaming, the game depends heavily on time sequences that are constantly in motion. Resending a packet of lost information in such a case is impractical. This lack of data at certain points causes the game to "jump." The same is true with voice communication applications.

To some extent, packet loss can be prevented by prioritizing the type of packets that are to be sent. This is why many Internet service providers often give a higher level of importance to gaming and voice applications. Typical web browsing and downloading files are not quite as high in the priority list. This is because packet loss is not as critical for these applications.

Generally, there is not much the average computer user can do to avoid packet issues. If they are constantly happening on a local area network, such as in a business environment, contacting the company's or network's IT professional may offer some relief. The most computer users can do is make sure their hardware is in proper working condition.

Share
EasyTechJunkie is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Discussion Comments
By anon144253 — On Jan 19, 2011

A practical way to fix packet loss is to turn off "IP Flood Detection" on your modem's firewall page. By doing this, you'll get a very quick healing of your internet connection's "packet loss" problem.

By brettmcateer — On Jun 10, 2009

With congestion on the Internet, packet loss is actually becoming a worse scourge and especially so with those VoIP and videoconferencing applications you mention. Ironically, the more powerful CODECs which attempt to improve videoconference quality by reduce the bandwidth demands are actually the ones that re-hit hardest by packet loss. Drop a packet from a massively compressed video stream and you get a great big hole.

Share
https://www.easytechjunkie.com/what-is-packet-loss.htm
Copy this link
EasyTechJunkie, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

EasyTechJunkie, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.