When do we get this? [Option GlobeSurfer ICON USB Modem]

Prometheus said:
Ask and you shall receive :D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packet#Example:_the_NASA_Deep_Space_Network
Ok dammit, it's not 10k, only allows up to nearly 64k.
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I meant in general Internet use i.e. not by the likes of Spirit & Opportunity.

Prometheus said:
Back to ethernet. I can set my packet size (MTU) in Windows. What do you think will happen if I send a 2000 byte packet over a network when it gets to an ethernet node as it can only handle 1500 byte frames?
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I dont have to think ... I deal with it every day. The 2000 bytes will be fragmented into 2 smaller packets (each in a seperate Ethernet frame) of 1500 & 500 size, unless the 'do not fragment' flag has been set which will result in a failure.

You can try it out yourself. On your Ethernet LAN with default mtu of 1500 (e.g. between PC & router) ping -l 2000 192.168.1.1 (or IP of your router) which will send a 2000 byte ping packet. Then ping -l 2000 -f 192.168.1.1, the -f specifies 'do not fragment' and you should see a message "Packet needs to be fragmented but DF set."

Also the device driver determines what the max mtu is for a particular interface as its tied to what the physical silicon can support. Most Ethernet chips are designed to only handle a max of 1500 mtu, however core network equip is usually designed to support more for the purposes of MPLS which requires extra space for labels, and for the optimisation of throughtput on inter-switch trunking links using 'jumbo' frames (up to 9K).
 
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