TCP header compression is used to compress TCP headers in a network to save bandwidth on a link. However, TCP header compression comes at a cost in terms of processor time (delay/serialization delay).
Conditions: must be configured on both ends of the network to compress and decompress packets.
cisco_router1(config)# interface serial0/1
cisco_router1(config-if)# ip address 172.16.10.1 255.255.255.252
cisco_router1(config-if)# ip tcp header-compression
cisco_router2(config)# interface serial0/0/1
cisco_router2(config-if)# ip address 172.16.10.2 255.255.255.252
cisco_router2(config-if)# ip tcp header-compression
cisco_router1# show ip tcp header-compression
cisco_router2# show ip tcp header-compression
efficiency improvement factor = (bytes saved + bytes sent) / (bytes sent)