Packets
The message is cut into small pieces, sent, and put back together.
One more sentence, for a grown-up
Each piece is numbered. If one is lost, it can be sent again, and the message is complete only when the pieces are back together. Roughly, as of 2026, this is still how almost every page travels.
This picture is an idea, not a thing with a size.
Real: What it looks like.
- Packets
Keys: arrows rotate · + / − zoom · 0 reset · 1–4 views · S signal · T tour · L labels · Space spin. The model is stylised. The network on this page is made up.
Every labeled part
- 1
The whole message
The page request starts as one message.
- 2
The pieces
It is cut into small pieces that can travel separately.
- 3
The numbers on the pieces
Numbers say the order, so the far side can rebuild the message.
- 4
Send it again
A lost piece is sent again. The message is not left with a hole.
- Packets
Try it
One piece was dropped. Send that piece again.
- Which
- Missing
- please
The message is not complete yet.