Home networking
Default gateway: the next step beyond your local network
A default gateway provides a route for traffic that is not destined for the local subnet.
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Learn about networks, accounts and viewing — page 2
Use practical technical references to understand a connection, message or account decision.
82 guides · Page 2 of 4
Home networking
Double NAT: two routing layers are not automatically a streaming fault
Double NAT commonly means that traffic passes through two address-translation layers, such as an internet provider's gateway and a second household router.
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Carrier-grade NAT: a shared provider address is not an account limit
Carrier-grade NAT allows a provider to translate traffic from multiple customers through shared public addressing.
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Path MTU: why small requests can work while larger transfers stall
The path maximum transmission unit is the largest packet size that can traverse a path without requiring the relevant size-handling mechanism.
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TCP retransmission: recovered data can still arrive too late
TCP provides an ordered byte stream and can retransmit data that was not acknowledged.
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TCP flow control and congestion control solve different problems
Flow control protects a receiving endpoint from being sent more data than it can accept.
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UDP: the transport alone does not describe playback reliability
UDP carries datagrams without providing TCP's ordered reliable byte-stream service.
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QUIC and HTTP/3: a different transport path to the same resource
QUIC is a secure multiplexed transport built over UDP.
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Quality of service: priority does not create bandwidth
Quality-of-service controls can classify and schedule traffic when a link is busy.
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Ethernet link rate is not the same as usable internet throughput
An Ethernet link rate describes the negotiated local connection between two interfaces.
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Ethernet duplex: avoid a mismatched manual setting
Duplex describes whether a link can transmit in both directions at once.
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Access point and router: different jobs in the home network
An access point provides wireless access to a network.
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HLS playlists and media: loading the list is only the first step
In HTTP Live Streaming, a playlist tells a client where to obtain media and how it is organized.
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HLS multivariant and media playlists have different jobs
An HLS multivariant playlist describes available variant streams.
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HLS live windows: old playlist entries can stop being usable
A live HLS playlist can move forward as new media becomes available and older entries leave its current window.
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HLS media-sequence numbers are not programme clocks
An HLS media-sequence number helps identify a segment's place in a playlist sequence.
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HLS target duration is not the stream's total live delay
HLS target duration is playlist information related to segment durations.
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HLS ENDLIST: an explicit end is different from a failed connection
The HLS ENDLIST marker indicates that no more media segments will be added to that media playlist.
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HLS EVENT and VOD: growing history versus a fixed playlist
HLS EVENT and VOD playlist types describe different publication behaviour.
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HLS discontinuities: a marked boundary is not automatically a broken stream
An HLS discontinuity marker signals a relevant boundary in the media sequence.
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HLS programme date-time: media timing is separate from the EPG
An HLS programme date-time value can associate a media point with wall-clock time.
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Encrypted media can load while its authorized key request fails
An encrypted media workflow can require a separate authorized key request.
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Relative media addresses: the playlist's location affects the destination
A playlist can refer to media using relative addresses.
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CDN edge and origin: one working page does not certify every media path
A content-delivery network can serve resources through edge systems while obtaining them from an origin.
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