Method and apparatus for controlling a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) transmission rate of a physical layer in a first terminal are provided. The method includes: obtaining a media access control protocol data unit (MPDU) retransmission frequency of the first terminal in a first period, where the first terminal is a station or an access point in a wireless network; if the MPDU retransmission frequency is less than a frequency threshold, promoting the PPDU transmission rate in a second period; and else, suppressing the PPDU transmission rate in the second period, where the second period is following and adjacent to the first period along a time axis. The PPDU transmission rate may be adjusted adaptively according to a channel's practical transmission state, the physical layer rate may be prevented from decreasing continuously in noisy channel environment, and a throughput rate may be improved in real time.