Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bbn!uwmcsd1!ig!agate!ucbvax!ORVILLE.NAS.NASA.GOV!lekash
From: lekash@ORVILLE.NAS.NASA.GOV (John Lekashman)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Re:  Hop problem
Message-ID: <8801211713.AA27595@orville.nas.nasa.gov>
Date: 21 Jan 88 17:13:37 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The ARPA Internet
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	From tcp-ip-RELAY@SRI-NIC.ARPA Thu Jan 21 00:40:29 1988
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	Date:     Wed, 20 Jan 88 15:16 MDT
	From: <STGEORGE%UNMB.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
	Subject:  Hop problem
	To: tcp-ip@sri-nic.arpa
	X-Original-To:  tcp-ip@sri-nic.arpa
	Status: RO
	
	Can anyone tell me the status of thw work being done to get around the
	limitation of TCP/IP to a hop of 15 nodes? Thanks.
	
Said work is complete, in that the current limit is 255, assuming all
intervening gateways only decrement the time to live by one.
This has always been the state.  Perhaps the particular IP 
you are running initializes the time to live at 15, assuming 
this to be an upper limit.  There is also the existence of 
an implementation of a routing protocol called RIP, which
assumes a distance of 16 is infinite.  Perhaps this is
causing you some problem.  All you need do is correct all
machines to initialize the ttl field to be more than 15,
and you will win.  I doubt seriously if anyone is trying
actively to repair this as a default case.

					john