A network device predicts end-to-end channel capacity entropy to permit use of optimal throughput settings in a network. The network device stores class definitions for a network condition; identifies multiple input features to correlate with the class definitions; generates a multiclass classification model that produces an importance score for each of the multiple input features, wherein the importance score reflects the contribution of an input feature to the network condition; selects two or more of the multiple input features with highest importance scores as influential features; predicts the behavior of the influential features to identify a current class, from the class definitions, for the network condition over an end-to-end communication channel; and sends an estimated network condition, based on the current class, to a device for traffic optimization.