Networking Myth vs fact

Is UDP Just Bad, Broken TCP?

UDP drops packets, so why does every video call use it?

Lesson notes

Key points

For live voice and video, a late retransmitted packet is useless, so waiting for it would only add lag.
UDP's small eight-byte header and no connection setup make it ideal for quick queries like DNS lookups.

Myth: UDP is a worse version of TCP that nobody should use
Fact: UDP trades reliability for speed, which suits real-time apps and DNS

Takeaway: UDP isn't broken TCP; it chooses speed over guaranteed delivery.

Quick check: Myth or fact: UDP guarantees packets arrive in the order they were sent.

Myth
Fact
Depends

UDP has no sequencing; ordering, if needed, is handled by the application.

LatencyLow overhead

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