Net Terms

Packet

Simply speaking, a packet is a unit of data that is routed between a 
starting point and a destination on the Internet.  When any type of 
file (an e-mail message or a graphic image, for example) is sent from 
one place to another on the Internet, protocols divide the file into
small, efficiently sized chunks ("packets") for sending.  

Each of the packets that are sent include the Internet address of the
destination point.  Packets for a given file may not always travel the 
same route through the Net to get to the same place.  Once they have 
all arrived, they are reassembled into the original file that you 
requested.