How many bytes in a packet?

CrazyChemist_2

Hi all,

I've got a wireless connection set up but was wondering how many bytes in a packet? I click on my connection and it says received 32,345 packets, but how much is this in terms of MB? I ask because we do have a 100GB limit (30GB peak usage) and i'd like to keep an eye on how much I'm using.

Thanks :beer:

wolfman

I think it can vary. Something like 1000 - 1600 bytes in a packet. A packet is basically a broken down file. For example when you send an email, it's broken down into packets and these packets are what are sent over a network (eg the internet). They contain all sorts of data, like they're destination, where they came from, the number of packets that make up the file etc...

Try using http://www.dumeter.com/ which'll keep a tab on your usage. Alternatively most isp's will have some form of customer login section where you can check your monthly usage.

CrazyChemist_2

THanks for that - I am sharing the connection with 2 other wireless users and so as not to go over the peak time usage of 30GB I'd like to know how much the video streaming is really taking up. Eg when it says 300kbps, is that kilobytes or kilobits?

Is there really no fixed value for a packet of data?

Number_6_3

useful info here:- http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question525.htm

wolfman

CrazyChemist wrote:

Is there really no fixed value for a packet of data?

As far as I'm aware there isn't. In simplistic terms imagine splitting an email that is 45 bytes into 10 byte packets. You'd get 4 full (10 bytes) packets and one packet that is half full to make up the whole 45 bytes.

In the real world it follows that kind of rule as you'll never have a web page or email etc... that'll divide up into an exact number of packets.

30Gb! That's quite a lot. 300kbps will be bits per second, not bytes (and there are 8 bits in a byte). Video streaming will eat up the bandwidth though, but with 30gb allowance you should be able to watch quite a fair amount of video.

Best thing to do is install DUMeter on both pc's, watch it for a month and see what your average usage would be like. It's a tricky thing judge otherwise.

CrazyChemist_2

Thanks for that - DU Meter is a nice little tool.

Now for one last stupid question - what is the difference between upstream and downstream?

Number_6_3

Ones the speed of the connection when you download from the internet, the other is the speed of the connection when you upload to the internet.

Another useful site

londonman81

How many bytes in a packet? Depends how many crisps can fit into the packet!