Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!Philip
From: Philip Prindeville@UDEL.EDU, philipp@larry.mcrcim.mcgill.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.ibmpc
Subject: Re: Pc/Ip scorecard - part II
Message-ID: <8803052309.AA23377@Larry.McRCIM.McGill.EDU>
Date: 5 Mar 88 23:09:55 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 11

Actually, reassembly and fragmentation is very handy when you
are going over a slow, 'small' link, such as a serial line
used to connect two LAN islands.  In such a case, the slower
speed of the line will space out the packets, possibly giving
you time to recover for the subsequent fragments.  And you
might not have any way of knowing that the 'small' network
separates you and your destination, especially if it is not
directly connected, and therefore can't negotiate the MSS.

-Philip

N.B.:  'small' means less than MTU of directly connected network.