Serial Line Internet Protocol

Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) allows the Internet Protocol (IP), normally used with Ethernet, to be used over a serial line, such as one connected to a modem. It is defined in RFC 1055.

Description
SLIP modifies a standard by appending a special SLIP END character to it, which allows datagrams to be distinguished as separate. SLIP requires a port configuration of 8 bits of data with no, and hardware. SLIP does not provide, being reliant on other high-layer protocols for this. Therefore, over a particularly error-prone dial-up link, SLIP on its own would not be reliable.

A SLIP connection needs to have its IP address configuration set each time before it is established, whereas Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) can determine it automatically once it has started.