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WiFi keeps freezing or dropping? Check for packet loss

This one feels different from "slow." Pages load fine, then hang for two seconds. Someone on a video call turns robotic or freezes mid-sentence. A game rubber-bands you back to where you were a moment ago. Run a speed test and it reports a perfectly healthy number.

That combination - normal speeds, intermittent stalls - is the signature of packet loss.

What's actually happening

Data crosses your network in small chunks called packets. Normally every packet arrives. When some don't, the sender waits, notices, and sends them again - and that retry takes time. A web page survives it (you just see a pause). A live video call or a game can't wait, so you get frozen frames, garbled audio, and jumpy movement.

A speed test averages throughput over several seconds, which is exactly why it hides this. Losing 5% of packets barely dents an average, but it's very visible in anything real-time.

The important question: your router, or your provider?

This is the fork in the road, and almost every "my WiFi is broken" conversation goes wrong by skipping it. There are two completely different problems with the same symptoms, and they need opposite fixes.

Test in two places:

1. Ping your own router (your "default gateway" - usually 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1). This only travels over your WiFi. Loss here is a local problem.
2. Ping something on the internet (for example 1.1.1.1). This travels over your WiFi and your provider's network.

Now read the result:

Losing packets to your own router → the problem is local

Your device and your router aren't talking cleanly. Usually one of:

• Distance or obstacles. Move to the same room as the router and test again. If the loss vanishes, it's coverage - see weak signal and dead spots for how to fix it properly.
• Interference. Microwaves, cordless phones, baby monitors and Bluetooth devices all crowd the 2.4 GHz band. So do the neighbours' networks - see channel congestion.
• The router itself. Restart it. If loss appears only after days of uptime, or only when many devices are connected, the router may be overloaded or failing - a firmware update or replacement is the fix.
• Stuck on a distant access point. In a mesh or extender setup, phones often cling to the node they first joined even after you've walked away from it. Toggling WiFi off and on forces a fresh choice.

Router clean, internet lossy → the problem is upstream

If packets reach your router reliably but disappear beyond it, no amount of WiFi tinkering will help - the fault is in your provider's network or the line into your home. What to do:

• Check your cables and hardware first. The cable from the router to the wall socket, and any splitter or microfilter, are the parts you own. A loose or corroded connection produces exactly this.
• Then contact your ISP, and use the words "packet loss." That phrase gets you past the standard "have you restarted it" script far faster than "the internet is slow." Tell them you tested to your own router and it was clean, and what percentage you saw. Ask them to check line quality and error counts.
• Note when it happens. Loss only in the evening usually means congestion in your provider's local network - which is their problem to fix, and knowing the pattern helps you make the case.

What doesn't fix it

Upgrading your internet plan does nothing for packet loss - a faster connection that drops packets still drops them. Neither does a WiFi extender if the loss is upstream of your router; you'd just be extending a lossy connection further.

Related: Weak signal and dead spots · WiFi lags when downloading? That's bufferbloat · Slow WiFi in an apartment? Channel congestion