MTU in the router: what is it

A Wi-Fi router is an indispensable thing these days. Agree, the owners of many gadgets use it most conveniently. The configuration of the router is mainly automatic and few people think that it is necessary to change the device options.

If you want to use a fast and high-quality Internet connection, then this article is for you. In it, we will consider what the MTU option is and how to choose the correct value for the best functionality of the router.

What is MTU in a router?

Let's start with the decryption. MTU-maximum transmission unit. Literally, it can be translated as the maximum block size transmitted over networks.

A certain number of bytes is placed in a packet. Data comes from the provider to the user. Speed? with which they are transmitted depends on how the MTU is configured.

Data loss is also minimized. The quality of their transmission depends on the correct settings. When sending large data to the router, fragmentation will occur. Further? going through a router? perhaps there will be more cutting packages. All this is time consuming and expensive.

How and why limit MTU size

Automatic configuration of routers is not always performed correctly. For the Internet to work quickly and efficiently, you must manually set a limit in the amount of MTU. You can make changes in the settings.
What is it for?

1. Channel load decreases, transmission speed increases.
2. Extending the transfer will help to use many programs, processes and other things at the same time.
3. Packages will be delivered intact.
4. Loss of information is reduced to minimum values, the communication channel can be used to the maximum.
5. If you notice that when working with a computer you have problems in the form of a long download of files, loss of connection with sites, then you need to limit the size of MTU. If there are no such problems, then do not change the automatic settings yourself.

What value should be set

You can check whether the MTU is set correctly by testing the network. The computer will determine how long it takes to transfer the information packet from the PC to the server. Need to be traced? how many bytes are in the packet. Next, we reduce their number to the complete exclusion of fragmentation. The recommended value is 1500, in some cases closer to 1400 bytes.

Check the network as follows:

1. We go to Windows as an administrator.
2. We enter the test command, change the MTU to 1500. We look at the result. Will it appear in it? how many packets were received, sent, how many were lost.
3. If the loss value does not exceed 10%, we try to determine the optimal value. Change it in the settings.
4. If you cannot manage to change the value yourself, you can always consult with the support service. In different routers, the value can be completely different, so you have to try a little to set the right one.