bufferbloat

jargon

networkingISP & telecom

Latency caused by oversized buffers: routers queue so much that packets arrive very late instead of being usefully dropped.

Big buffers were meant to prevent loss, but a full deep buffer means every packet waits in a long line - which is why one big upload can make video calls stutter. Smart queue management (CoDel, FQ-CoDel, CAKE) drains the bloat.

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