Default
Door staff@engadget.com (Roger Fingas) - 17 Oct 2026
The source of the problem is most likely a traffic jam. Unless you live in a rural area or an especially sparse suburb, there are other like-minded people nearby, probably coming back from work (or school) at roughly the same time and getting online. With cable internet, this increases overall congestion because many houses in the same neighborhood share bandwidth. It's not as much of a problem with fiber internet, which offers far greater bandwidth.
Tons of people getting online simultaneously also increases competition for the frequency bands Wi-Fi routers share in common. In a large apartment complex, there may be dozens or hundreds of devices fighting to compete on the same frequencies.
One potential fix is power-cycling your modem and router. Unplug them for at least 30 seconds, then plug them back in again, waiting for the modem to reconnect before restarting your router (assuming it's a separate piece of equipment). Doing this forces the devices to clear their caches and acquire fresh, potentially more optimal connections. The results aren't guaranteed to be faster, but they can be, and it's unlikely that performance will get any worse.
If you haven't already, you might also consider changing router settings to create separate SSIDs (network names) for each of your router's bands, then forcing your most data-hungry devices over to 5GHz or 6GHz if they support it. That's because the 2.4GHz band is not only popular, but long-range, and easily congestible due to the way its channels work. It's even vulnerable to interference from other electronics like appliances and Bluetooth devices. It's best to reserve 2.4GHz for smart home accessories, which need range more than raw speed, and can afford to blip out for a second or two.
Tons of people getting online simultaneously also increases competition for the frequency bands Wi-Fi routers share in common. In a large apartment complex, there may be dozens or hundreds of devices fighting to compete on the same frequencies.
One potential fix is power-cycling your modem and router. Unplug them for at least 30 seconds, then plug them back in again, waiting for the modem to reconnect before restarting your router (assuming it's a separate piece of equipment). Doing this forces the devices to clear their caches and acquire fresh, potentially more optimal connections. The results aren't guaranteed to be faster, but they can be, and it's unlikely that performance will get any worse.
If you haven't already, you might also consider changing router settings to create separate SSIDs (network names) for each of your router's bands, then forcing your most data-hungry devices over to 5GHz or 6GHz if they support it. That's because the 2.4GHz band is not only popular, but long-range, and easily congestible due to the way its channels work. It's even vulnerable to interference from other electronics like appliances and Bluetooth devices. It's best to reserve 2.4GHz for smart home accessories, which need range more than raw speed, and can afford to blip out for a second or two.