TCP: The Internet’s Original Control Freak

In this episode of Bits and Specs, we go back to the protocol that built the modern internet: TCP — Transmission Control Protocol. It’s the reason your messages arrive in order, your video streams don’t collapse, and your apps (mostly) behave. From three-way handshakes and flow control to congestion avoidance and port numbers, we unpack what makes TCP the backbone of reliable communication. Plus, we explore how newer protocols like QUIC challenge its dominance — and why TCP still won’t die quietly.

🧠 Researched with help from Google NotebookLM and RFC 793, the original TCP spec.