What kind of routing metric does RIP use?

RIP, or Routing Information Protocol, uses hop count as its routing metric. The hop count is the number of routers (or hops) data must pass through to reach the destination. This metric is straightforward and easy to compute, making RIP a simple and widely used routing protocol, particularly in smaller networks.

Using hop count means that the primary factor in the decision-making process for path selection in RIP is the number of routers the data must traverse instead of the actual bandwidth or delay associated with those links. When RIP calculates the best route, it simply counts the number of hops to each destination and selects the path with the lowest count, with a maximum limit of 15 hops, beyond which a destination is considered unreachable. This design keeps the protocol simple and understandable but also means that it can overlook more optimal paths in terms of speed or bandwidth availability.