Flow control is a mechanism or code that compensates for differences in the flow of data into and out of a communication device (e.g., modem or network card). Flow control is necessary for data communications because the sending computer may be faster than the receiving computer; sending the data too fast would result in errors or lost data.

Error control, Modem terms, Software flow control

Don’t confuse flow control with control flow.

  • Modem help and support.