As the kernel code says, limit is actually the amount of packets it can hold queued at a time, as per:
static int netem_enqueue(struct sk_buff *skb, struct Qdisc *sch, struct sk_buff **to_free) { ... if (unlikely(sch->q.qlen >= sch->limit)) return qdisc_drop_all(skb, sch, to_free); So lets fix the description of the field in the man page. Signed-off-by: Marcelo Ricardo Leitner <mleit...@redhat.com> --- man/man8/tc-netem.8 | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/man/man8/tc-netem.8 b/man/man8/tc-netem.8 index b31384f57a9b36769c0037c465cc6b5bbe8c8b6e..f2cd86b6ed8ae82b8cc2fbd2ecbe41d2fcbad507 100644 --- a/man/man8/tc-netem.8 +++ b/man/man8/tc-netem.8 @@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ netem has the following options: .SS limit packets -limits the effect of selected options to the indicated number of next packets. +maximum number of packets the qdisc may hold queued at a time. .SS delay adds the chosen delay to the packets outgoing to chosen network interface. The -- 2.14.3