Network, Networking Technology, Data Communication Terms, Glossary and Dictionary

MTU: Maximum Transmission Unit

Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) is a limit, expressed in bytes, on the size of data sent over a network. It is the maximum size of a single unit (e.g., an Ethernet frame) of digital communications. MTU sizes are properties of physical network interfaces. Each type of networks may have different size of MTU. The MTU for Ethernet is 1500 bytes. Higher-level network protocols like TCP/IP can be configured with a maximum packet size, but this setting is distinct from the physical MTU. The MTU of a network has important implications on the performance of computer communications as explained below.

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MTU: Maximum Transmission Unit