An ironic twist to this is, that those &#x27;low-signal&#x27; clients that get &#x27;downshifted&#x27; are often victims of noise. And much noise is periodic or intermittent (think sparking from a microwave tube or a faulty car ignition).  Packets in the air are essentially getting hit by random darts. When the AP &#x27;downshifts&#x27; to a lower rate, it makes the packets <i>bigger</i> targets for the darts. So the AP slows down some more. Often in a matter of a second it shifts all the way down to the bottom rate. And now has a harder time getting through.<p>It would be helpful if APs could distinguish between &#x27;low signal&#x27; and &#x27;high error rate&#x27;, and respond differently. It should actually speed up when the periodic error rate is high, to make the packets smaller targets in the air. Or make them shorter. Or even try to time transmissions to the fit between the occurrences of noise.