I had good wired latency and bad WiFi latency under load. Apple devices were fine most of the time, then flaky with AirPlay and video calls. I tuned UniFi and the problem calmed down.

Here is what I changed, why it works, and how to test without breaking coverage.

The Goal

• Lower WiFi bufferbloat while keeping coverage
• Make Apple devices behave predictably
• Keep the setup simple enough to maintain

Why WiFi Setup Is Context Heavy

• Access point placement and height change everything
• Walls and materials matter a lot. Mine are concrete with rebar, which hurts 5 GHz and 6 GHz more than 2.4 GHz
• Neighbors, channel congestion, and non WiFi devices add noise
• Client mix and radio capabilities differ by device and OS
• Small changes in power and channel width can help in one room and hurt in another

Global Radio Settings

I kept UniFi in a conservative, low contention posture.

• Default WiFi Speeds set to Conservative
• Channel Widths
  • 2.4 GHz at 20 MHz
  • 5 GHz at 40 MHz
  • 6 GHz at 80 MHz
• DFS scanning off to avoid surprise channel moves
• Daily Spectrum Optimizer off
• 5 GHz Roaming Assistant off
• Wireless meshing on with clear parent links

Why this helps

• Narrower channels reduce interference and retries
• No surprise DFS moves means fewer drops
• Conservative speeds and no aggressive roaming means fewer edge cases

What these mean

• Conservative speeds: caps the highest modulation rates to reduce retries on marginal links
• Channel width: wider equals faster peak, but more overlap and retries under load
• DFS off: avoids mid call channel changes when radar is detected
• Roaming assistant off: lets clients decide, which many do well today

Per AP Radio Settings

Two access points. One U6 Plus and one AC Pro. Same approach on both.

• 2.4 GHz
  • 20 MHz channel width
  • Channel auto
  • Transmit power Medium
  • Minimum RSSI off
• 5 GHz
  • 40 MHz channel width
  • Channel auto
  • Transmit power Medium
  • Minimum RSSI off
• Mesh parent enabled, mesh connect off

Why this helps

• Transmit power on Medium reduces hidden node issues and queue growth
• 40 MHz on 5 GHz keeps speed decent without the latency hit of wider channels

Notes on these settings

• Transmit power: too high keeps devices stuck and increases interference; too low creates dead spots
• Minimum RSSI: only enable after you confirm strong overlap, or it will kick devices too early
• 2.4 vs 5 vs 6 GHz: 2.4 travels farther through walls, 5 carries more capacity, 6 needs newer clients and struggles most with concrete

Band Steering And Apple Devices

I turned band steering off. Apple clients already prefer 5 GHz and 6 GHz when it makes sense. Forcing steering created odd behavior. With steering off, connects and roaming became more predictable. Band steering can also clash with client roaming decisions and cause flaps.

Network Defaults That Stayed Simple

• IGMP Snooping off
• RSTP on for clean loops
• Rogue DHCP detection on
• Jumbo frames off
• Flow control off
• 802.1X control off

These defaults kept the data plane simple while I focused on radio behavior.

Results

• WiFi bufferbloat dropped to low tens of milliseconds under load
• Wired stayed excellent with CAKE QoS
• Apple device stability improved for AirPlay and calls

How To Test Your Setup

• Use the Waveform bufferbloat test to measure latency under load
• Check signal strength
  • Excellent: -30 to -50 dBm
  • Good: -50 to -60 dBm
  • Fair: -60 to -70 dBm
  • Poor: below -70 dBm
• Walk and watch roaming between APs
• Try real tasks. Video calls, AirPlay, music streaming

Tradeoffs And Safe Iterations

• If edge coverage suffers, try Low power only after you confirm overlap
• If roaming sticks, consider enabling a Minimum RSSI threshold around -70 dBm
• For consistency, you can set manual non overlapping channels after a few days of observation

Why This Works

High transmit power and wide channels look fast but can grow queues and drop retries in busy bands. That shows up as bufferbloat. Medium power and moderate channel widths reduce contention. The network breathes better. Latency improves.

What I Would Do Next

• Try manual channel plans for consistency once the baseline is stable
• Consider Minimum RSSI only if roaming truly needs help
• Add a third AP if coverage still dips at the edges after power reduction

Related

For router side queue management that pairs with these WiFi settings, see: /blog/qos-for-bufferbloat-in-a-home-network

This is the setup I run today. It favors stability and latency over peak throughput. For most home tasks, that trade is worth it.