macOS Monterey may be one of the biggest software releases for the Mac in years. Not only did we get features like Shortcuts on the Mac, but Apple is also doing a swell job at fine-tuning the software to cater to the new M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max chips.
While a lot of fuss has been made about the fact that Universal Control still has yet to arrive, Apple continues adding things that don’t make headlines. One such example is the addition of a new network integrity tool that can be used right from the Terminal app.
Check Your Mac’s Internet Connectivity Quality
When run, this will perform a series of tests, putting your network upload and download speeds to the task. Here’s how you can perform the network test right from your Mac:
Make sure you are connected to the Wi-Fi network that you want to test.
Open the Terminal app on your Mac.
Enter networkQuality in the Terminal window.
Press Enter.
Wait until you see Summary appear.
After the Network Quality test has been completed, you’ll see something that looks similar to this:
Upload and Download speeds are what most people are used to paying attention to. However, Apple has provided an explanation as to what “Responsiveness” means in terms of these results:
Low: If any device on the same network is, for example, downloading a movie or backing up photos to iCloud, the connection in some apps or services might be unreliable, like during FaceTime video calls or gaming.
Medium: When multiple devices or apps are sharing the network, you might see momentary pauses or freezes, like during FaceTime audio or video calls.
High: Regardless of the number of devices and apps sharing the network, apps and services should maintain good connection.
Essentially, if you have a “High” Responsiveness, then you shouldn’t run into any issues while connected. This could change the speeds based on the number of devices that are using the network but should not impact your usage.
You might be asking yourself why you would want to use this Network Quality test. This is especially true if you are accustomed to using something like fast.com or SpeedTest. But the difference here is that Apple’s network testing tool provides more of a real-world experience, compared to what you should be getting in terms of network speeds.
It’s not a full-blown replacement for those who know how to use the ping command in Terminal. But this simply networkQuality command does make it quick and easy to check the internet speeds from your Mac.
Andrew Myrick is a freelance writer based on the East Coast of the US. He enjoys everything to do with technology, including tablets, smartphones, and everything in between. Perhaps his favorite past-time is having a never-ending supply of different keyboards and gaming handhelds that end up collecting more dust than the consoles that are being emulated.
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