Re: PC Bozo's World bites again (CNN, too)

["Matt Sommer" <cache22 () webkorner com>]

Does RFC-879 still have any validity?

"      HOSTS MUST NOT SEND DATAGRAMS LARGER THAN 576 OCTETS UNLESS THEY
      HAVE SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE THAT THE DESTINATION HOST IS PREPARED TO
      ACCEPT LARGER DATAGRAMS.

    This is a long established rule.

    To resolve the ambiguity in the TCP Maximum Segment Size option
    definition the following rule is established:

          THE TCP MAXIMUM SEGMENT SIZE IS THE IP MAXIMUM DATAGRAM SIZE MINUS
           FORTY.
           The default IP Maximum Datagram Size is 576.
           The default TCP Maximum Segment Size is 536.
"



> Michael Dillon <michael () memra com> writes:
>
> > I don't think so. They even said in their article that the technical
> > details are based upon this URL
> > http://www.sns-access.com/%7Enetpro/maxmtu.htm
> > and this guy says stuff like:
> >
> >     And, it turns out, depending on how your ISP and other routers
> >     encountered on the Internet handle your TCP/IP requests, that a
MaxMTU
> >     setting of 576, often referred to as the "Internet Standard", will in
> >     many cases avoid the fragmentation of packets of data and the slow
> >     transfer speeds which result.
>
> He used to be one of my users, at two different ISPs, in fact.  I
> had a long drawn out disagreement about how this was wrong, and
> mathematically didn't make any sense.
>
> However, lots of people have confirmed that it really does
> help... which leads me to accept Karl's explanation.
>
> We shouldn't expect anymore from microsoft, really.
>
> Darrell