Connection establishment involves a handshake process between two endpoints to synchronize sequence numbers and establish communication. Transport protocols like TCP require a connection to be set up before data can be exchanged. This allows each end to verify the other's existence, negotiate parameters, and allocate resources. Common connection establishment methods are two-way and three-way handshakes, with three-way involving SYN, SYN-ACK and ACK packets. Flow control mechanisms like stop-and-wait and sliding windows ensure transmission rates match receiver capabilities to prevent buffer overruns. Congestion control is also important to manage network traffic loads and avoid degrading performance due to delays or reduced throughput when congestion occurs.