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Networking Intermediate

What is MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit)?

The maximum size of a data packet that can be transmitted over a network without fragmentation.

MTU defines the largest packet size a network link can handle. Standard Ethernet MTU is 1500 bytes. Packets larger than MTU are either fragmented (split into smaller packets) or dropped if the Don't Fragment flag is set.

MTU mismatches cause connectivity issues — packets are silently dropped. Path MTU Discovery automatically finds the smallest MTU along a route. Jumbo frames (MTU 9000) improve performance on local networks. VPN and tunnel overhead may require reducing MTU.

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