Quick Links What Is Network Congestion? Fix Your Wi-Fi Channels Use a Less Congested Wi-Fi Band Summary Network congestion causes laggy internet with high jitter, packet loss, and latency, impacting your Wi-Fi network. Choose a less congested Wi-Fi channel by opting for 5 or 6 GHz bands for better speed and stability. Fix network congestion issues easily by using a Wi-Fi analyzer app and selecting the best router channels.

Have you ever wondered why your Wi-Fi isn't giving you the fast speeds it should? Or why it keeps disconnecting every time you move around your house? Wi-Fi networks are affected by much more than your router, bandwidth, and interference, but there are some smart ways to boost your network.

What Is Network Congestion?

Network congestion occurs when your network can't send all the data packets back and forth between the router and connected devices. The result is a laggy internet connection and high levels of jitter, packet loss, and latency.

Think of your network as a pipe, and the data packets flow through said pipe. If the pipe isn't wide enough for all the data packets wanting to go through, some data packets have to wait while others go through just fine. You can set up QoS on your router to prioritize traffic and mitigate the issue to some extent, but if you haven't (or don't have this feature), everyone ends up with a bad internet experience.

Remember that this is regardless of your internet speed. So you might have the fastest internet plan that your ISP might provide, but if your router, and specifically, network bands, aren't up to the task, a lot of that bandwidth will go to waste. The bandwidth your ISP provides you and what your router can use are different. This is one reason why we recommend swapping out your ISP-provided router as soon as you can.

This lag in packets arriving at your router and then being routed to a device isn't always obvious. If you're playing a game, sure, you'll experience high ping or packet loss, but if you're streaming a movie, generally, there's enough of a buffer for the packets to arrive in time.

I recommend analyzing your Wi-Fi network occasionally to figure out whether or not you're connected to a congested Wi-Fi channel. Your router will automatically try to connect you to the best possible channel, but it doesn't always get it right. Thankfully, this problem is rather easy to fix.

Fix Your Wi-Fi Channels

The first step to avoiding network congestion is to switch to a better channel. If you're still using a 2.4 GHz router, the number of available channels is quite low, and most, if not all, of them will receive interference from other devices within your router's range, including other routers and even household appliances.

Generally speaking, channels 1, 6, and 11 are best if you're on a 2.4GHz network. However, this will vary depending on where you are and how much interference your router is dealing with. 5 or 6GHz routers have access to a significantly higher number of channels, so chances are connecting to these Wi-Fi bands will give you better speeds and stability.

The best way is to use a Wi-Fi analyzer app and figure out the best channels on each band of Wi-Fi available to you. Then you can configure your router to connect devices to these channels and hence avoid the problems that a congested network can cause.

Use a Less Congested Wi-Fi Band

First up, if your router doesn't support 5 or 6 GHz Wi-Fi bands (or frequencies), you should consider buying a new router with these essential features.

These bands use channels that are less susceptible to interference from other devices, have a higher number of channels, and offer more bandwidth than 2.4GHz channels (at the cost of broadcast range). As mentioned before, these bands also have significantly more channels available, meaning they can withstand a higher amount of interference before your Wi-Fi begins to degrade.

Switching to a 5GHz or 6GHz band will significantly boost the Wi-Fi speed and stability you get out of your connection. These higher frequency, lesser congested bands give you better speeds, more bandwidth, and more stability so you can finally use all that ISP-provided bandwidth properly. They're not as good as a proper Ethernet connection, but they're far superior to the standard 2.4GHz band you might be using.

Network congestion is a hidden flaw slowing your Wi-Fi without you even realizing it. As more and more wireless devices start operating in close range to each other, the problem gets worse. Thankfully, the fix is simple and doesn't require a complete overhaul. A better Wi-Fi router and some smart configurations will go a long way in ensuring you get the most out of your internet connection.