Cut-through LAN switching is useful in packet-switching systems. In the packet-switching technique, the message will be divided into many SMALLER UNITS known as packets and it will be individually routed from source to the destination. It does not require the establishment of a dedicated circuit for communication, as it is a connection-less network switching technique.

In cut−through switching, when a packet or data frame begins arriving at a switch or bridge, the transmission of data can be started immediately after the destination address field has arrived. The switch will do a look–up at the address table stored in it and check for the VALIDITY of the destination address. If it is a valid address and the outgoing link is available, the data frame transmission into the destination port will be immediately started by a switching device, even before the ARRIVAL of the remaining frame.

Here, the switching device will act as a forwarder of data frames. The error checks cannot be performed when it STARTS forwarding, as the total frame is still not available. For error handling, it depends upon the destination devices.