Understanding Standard Ethernet Frame Size and MTU
What is the Standard Ethernet Frame Size?
The Ethernet frame size consists of several components, excluding the preamble:
- Destination Address (DA): 6 bytes
- Source Address (SA): 6 bytes
- Type/Length: 2 bytes
- Data and Padding: Up to 1500 bytes
- Frame Check Sequence (FCS): 4 bytes
This totals a maximum of 1518 bytes.
What is MTU?
The Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) defines the largest packet size that can be transmitted over a network. For Ethernet, the standard MTU size is 1500 bytes.
Ethernet Frame Size in Trunking
Different trunking technologies use slightly varied frame sizes:
- Cisco ISL: 1518 bytes
- IEEE 802.1Q (VLAN tagging): 1522 bytes
Understanding these sizes helps in configuring and troubleshooting network issues effectively.
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