A hop is a computer networking term that refers to the number of routers through which a packet (a piece of data) passes from its source to its destination.

Sometimes a hop is counted when a packet passes through other hardware on a network, such as switches, access points, and repeaters. This is not always the case, and it depends on what role those devices play on the network and how they are configured.

Every time packets flow from one computer or device to another, such as from your computer to a website and back again (for example, when viewing a web page), there are a number of intermediate devices, such as routers, involved.

Every time data passes through a router, it processes that data and forwards it to the next device. In a multi-hop situation, which is very common on the Internet, multiple routers are involved in getting your requests where you want them.