Packet Collision Rate

Why Trust Techopedia

What Does Packet Collision Rate Mean?

Packet collision rate is the number of data packet collisions occurring in a network over a specified period of time. It indicates the rate at which data packets collide or are lost in collisions. Packet collision rate is measured as a percentage of the data packets successfully sent out.

Advertisements

Techopedia Explains Packet Collision Rate

Packet collisions happen when two or more network nodes attempt to send data simultaneously, resulting in collisions and possible loss of transmitted data. This can result in the nodes having to resend the packets, which can have a negative effect on system performance.

Packet collisions are usually seen in half-duplex Ethernet networks, where communication is two-way, but in only one direction at a time. Collisions do not occur in full-duplex networks. Ethernet networks use the Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) collision protocol to determine how to respond to packet collisions.

A collision rate of five percent or below is considered a normal rate. Anything above 10 percent may indicate that the network is overloaded.

Netstat is a popular command used in various operating systems to calculate the collision rate.

Advertisements

Related Terms

Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.