What's Your MTU? 1454 May Be The Right Answer

Recently I was troubleshooting someone's home network that used a PPPoE Internet connection. Certain Web pages (typically ones that serve streaming videos) would always hang while loading, no matter which type of browser or home computer the homeowners used. The problem? Their home router was set to use an MTU value of 1492, which needed to be lowered to 1454.

Normally the default MTU settings of your computer or router work fine with Internet connections and don't require any special tweaks. However, in some cases, particularly on some DSL or other PPPoE networks, you must adjust this value to be compatible with the Internet provider's network. If you're experiencing trouble with certain Web pages hanging on large downloads, check with your provider (they should give you a recommendation) and be prepared to change your MTU accordingly.