Navigation performance under weak network conditions in App Router (RSC)

[DuongPham-dev]

Hi there,

In the App Router architecture of Next.js (using React Server Components), route navigation appears to rely heavily on server responses.

I've noticed that under weak or unstable network conditions, navigating between routes can feel sluggish or even unresponsive. This seems to happen because the client needs to wait for the server-rendered RSC payload before updating the UI, which can lead to a degraded user experience.

This behavior is quite different from traditional client-side routing libraries like React Router, where navigation happens instantly and data fetching can be deferred.

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🔍 Context

• Using Next.js 15+ with App Router and React Server Components.
• Navigation is triggered via <Link /> or router.push().
• loading.tsx is used to show fallback UI while awaiting server response.
• However, the initial delay (especially under poor network conditions) can still feel like the app is "frozen" until the RSC payload arrives.

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✅ Goal

I'd love to understand:

• Best practices for improving navigation UX in App Router under degraded network conditions.
• Whether this is a known limitation, or if there are any patterns the community is using to mitigate it.

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🙏 Thank you

Thank you to the Next.js team and the community for all the amazing work! Looking forward to hearing thoughts or recommendations on this topic.