In this paper, a hierarchical mobile packet radio network, Distributed Cellular Packet Radio Network (DCPRNET) [l] In this paper, we compare the performance of a mobile packet radio network with a hierarchical structure with one which is fully distributed. The network end-to-end throughput is used as the performance measure. We show that the hierarchical network outperforms the fully distributed network for most scenarios.is considered. In this architecture, the whole service area is divided into disjoint subareas, called cells. Each cell has a node, called cell head or station, which provides local network control functions such as routing and flow control to the nodes within the same cell, and also serves as relay for those packets addressed to nodes in different cells. The cell heads constitute a backbone network. A cell head and those nodes in the same cell form a cluster, called local access network. (See Figure 1.) An inter-cell data packet, whose source and destination are located in different cells,