diff --git a/include/emane/downstreampacket.h b/include/emane/downstreampacket.h
--- a/include/emane/downstreampacket.h
+++ b/include/emane/downstreampacket.h
@@ -99,14 +99,14 @@ namespace EMANE
     void prepend(const void * buf, size_t size);
 
     /**
-     * Prepends an unsigned 16 bit length value to the beginning of the packet. This
+     * Prepends an unsigned 32 bit length value to the beginning of the packet. This
      * method is used in conjunction with prefix length framing.
      *
-     * @param u16Length value to be prepended
+     * @param u32Length value to be prepended
      *
      * @note Value prepended in network byte order
      */
-    void prependLengthPrefixFraming(std::uint16_t u16Length);
+    void prependLengthPrefixFraming(std::uint32_t u32Length);
 
     /**
      * Gets a vectored IO representation of the packet.
diff --git a/include/emane/upstreampacket.h b/include/emane/upstreampacket.h
--- a/include/emane/upstreampacket.h
+++ b/include/emane/upstreampacket.h
@@ -110,12 +110,12 @@ namespace EMANE
 
 
     /**
-     * Removes 2 bytes for the beginning of the packet and returns them
-     * as an unsigned 16-bit integer in host byte order.
+     * Removes 4 bytes for the beginning of the packet and returns them
+     * as an unsigned 32-bit integer in host byte order.
      *
      * @return The prefixed length value
      */
-    std::uint16_t stripLengthPrefixFraming();
+    std::uint32_t stripLengthPrefixFraming();
 
     /**
      * Gets a pointer to the internal buffer holding the message
diff --git a/src/libemane/commonmacheader.cc b/src/libemane/commonmacheader.cc
--- a/src/libemane/commonmacheader.cc
+++ b/src/libemane/commonmacheader.cc
@@ -62,13 +62,13 @@ EMANE::CommonMACHeader::CommonMACHeader(UpstreamPacket & pkt)
 {
   if(pkt.length() >= sizeof(decltype(pkt.stripLengthPrefixFraming())))
     {
-      std::uint16_t u16HeaderLength{pkt.stripLengthPrefixFraming()};
+      std::uint32_t u32HeaderLength{pkt.stripLengthPrefixFraming()};
 
-      if(pkt.length() >= u16HeaderLength)
+      if(pkt.length() >= u32HeaderLength)
         {
           EMANEMessage::CommonMACHeader msg;
 
-          if(!msg.ParseFromArray(pkt.get(),u16HeaderLength))
+          if(!msg.ParseFromArray(pkt.get(),u32HeaderLength))
             {
               throw SerializationException("unable to deserialize CommonMACHeader");
             }
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ EMANE::CommonMACHeader::CommonMACHeader(UpstreamPacket & pkt)
         }
 
       // strip common mac header from pkt
-      pkt.strip(u16HeaderLength);
+      pkt.strip(u32HeaderLength);
     }
   else
     {
diff --git a/src/libemane/commonphyheader.cc b/src/libemane/commonphyheader.cc
--- a/src/libemane/commonphyheader.cc
+++ b/src/libemane/commonphyheader.cc
@@ -108,13 +108,13 @@ EMANE::CommonPHYHeader::CommonPHYHeader(UpstreamPacket & pkt)
 {
   if(pkt.length() >= sizeof(decltype(pkt.stripLengthPrefixFraming())))
     {
-      std::uint16_t u16HeaderLength{pkt.stripLengthPrefixFraming()};
+      std::uint32_t u32HeaderLength{pkt.stripLengthPrefixFraming()};
 
-      if(pkt.length() >= u16HeaderLength)
+      if(pkt.length() >= u32HeaderLength)
         {
           EMANEMessage::CommonPHYHeader msg;
 
-          if(!msg.ParseFromArray(pkt.get(),u16HeaderLength))
+          if(!msg.ParseFromArray(pkt.get(),u32HeaderLength))
             {
               throw SerializationException("unable to deserialize CommonPHYHeader");
             }
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ EMANE::CommonPHYHeader::CommonPHYHeader(UpstreamPacket & pkt)
         }
 
       // strip common phy header from pkt
-      pkt.strip(u16HeaderLength);
+      pkt.strip(u32HeaderLength);
     }
   else
     {
diff --git a/src/libemane/downstreampacket.cc b/src/libemane/downstreampacket.cc
--- a/src/libemane/downstreampacket.cc
+++ b/src/libemane/downstreampacket.cc
@@ -65,15 +65,15 @@ public:
     totalLengthBytes_ += size;
   }
 
-  void prependLengthPrefixFraming(std::uint16_t u16Length)
+  void prependLengthPrefixFraming(std::uint32_t u32Length)
   {
-    std::uint16_t u16LengthNet{HTONS(u16Length)};
+    std::uint32_t u32LengthNet{HTONL(u32Length)};
 
-    auto c = reinterpret_cast<const std::uint8_t *>(&u16LengthNet);
+    auto c = reinterpret_cast<const std::uint8_t *>(&u32LengthNet);
 
-    segments_.emplace_front(&c[0],&c[sizeof(u16Length)]);
+    segments_.emplace_front(&c[0],&c[sizeof(u32LengthNet)]);
 
-    totalLengthBytes_ += sizeof(u16Length);
+    totalLengthBytes_ += sizeof(u32LengthNet);
   }
 
   size_t length() const
@@ -165,9 +165,9 @@ void EMANE::DownstreamPacket::prepend(const void * buf, size_t size)
   pImpl_->prepend(buf,size);
 }
 
-void EMANE::DownstreamPacket::prependLengthPrefixFraming(std::uint16_t u16Length)
+void EMANE::DownstreamPacket::prependLengthPrefixFraming(std::uint32_t u32Length)
 {
-  pImpl_->prependLengthPrefixFraming(u16Length);
+  pImpl_->prependLengthPrefixFraming(u32Length);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/libemane/upstreampacket.cc b/src/libemane/upstreampacket.cc
--- a/src/libemane/upstreampacket.cc
+++ b/src/libemane/upstreampacket.cc
@@ -83,19 +83,19 @@ public:
   }
 
 
-  std::uint16_t stripLengthPrefixFraming()
+  std::uint32_t stripLengthPrefixFraming()
   {
-    std::uint16_t u16LengthPrefixFraming{};
+    std::uint32_t u32LengthPrefixFraming{};
 
-    if(head_ + sizeof(uint16_t) < pShared_->packetSegment_.size())
+    if(head_ + sizeof(uint32_t) <= pShared_->packetSegment_.size())
       {
-        u16LengthPrefixFraming =
-          NTOHS(*reinterpret_cast<const std::uint16_t *>(&pShared_->packetSegment_[head_]));
+        u32LengthPrefixFraming =
+          NTOHL(*reinterpret_cast<const std::uint32_t *>(&pShared_->packetSegment_[head_]));
 
-        head_ += sizeof(uint16_t);
+        head_ += sizeof(uint32_t);
       }
 
-    return u16LengthPrefixFraming;
+    return u32LengthPrefixFraming;
   }
 
 
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ size_t EMANE::UpstreamPacket::strip(size_t size)
 }
 
 
-std::uint16_t EMANE::UpstreamPacket::stripLengthPrefixFraming()
+std::uint32_t EMANE::UpstreamPacket::stripLengthPrefixFraming()
 {
   return pImpl_->stripLengthPrefixFraming();
 }