A packet is a small segment of a larger message. Data sent over computer networks (such as the internet) is divided into packets, which are then recombined by the computer or device that receives them. Example: Let’s say Jane is writing a letter to John, but John’s mail slot can is only big enough to accept small index-sized envelopes. Instead of writing her letter on a big piece of paper and wrangling it into John’s mailbox, she divides the letter into small sections and writes them on index cards. She then delivers these index cards to John, who orders them so he can read the complete message. In this instance, Jane is one computer and John the other. This is similar to how packets work on the internet. Let’s suppose a user needs to load an image - the image file doesn’t get sent from the web server to the user’s computer in one piece. It is instead broken down into packets of data, sent over the wires, cables and radio waves of the Internet, and then reassembled by the user’s computer into the photo. (Hopefully that explains it a little better. It still sounds like magic to me if I’m being honest. ) Source: https://www.cloudflare.com/en-au/learning/network-layer/what-is-a-packet/