Packet Switching (Pros and Cons)

 Benefits of [[Packet]] Switching include e.g.:  

• Makes very efficient use of the network as communication lines  

are shared  

• Data packets can be routed around unusable nodes of the  

network so if part of network is faulty packets  

can still reach destination  

• The network only has to expand slowly with increase in users  

compared to [[circuit switching]] 

  

  

Drawbacks of Packet Switching:  

• The packaging of the data changes each time a packet is  

switched so there is a time overhead/latency  

• Can cause a problem for time-critical information such as an  

emergency signal/video streaming  

• Small data packages are inefficiently packaged (e.g. a data  

package of 600 bytes uses two packets of 512 bytes plus the  

address information)