Troubleshooting WiFi Congestion

There are two primary sources of WiFi congestion. One is other nearby WiFi stations (access points or APs) using the same channel (mostly an issue with 2.4GHz bands). The other is too many devices needing access to the same AP. The WiFi display in Mosaic Home Analytics will display information about the WiFi environment that will help determine if this is the cause of the subscriber's complaint.

Procedure

1. Navigate to the WiFi page and select Per Device.
2. An average Downstream Data Rate is shown for all devices that have connected in the selected Timespan. In the screenshot below, there are lots of devices, but they are not suffering from congestion since each is getting near the maximum expected data rate(54-65Mbps). If, on the other hand, these devices all showed generally low data rates (e.g., 1-5Mbps), either they are all too far away from the AP or there is a congestion issue.

WiFi Page

What to Do Next

If congestion is indicated, the subscriber should change the WiFi channel to a less congested channel or change bands (typically moving from 2.4 to 5GHz).