Although the app contains a lot of useful information, it isn’t intuitively clear what you are supposed to do with it.Using Apple Diagnostics to Troubleshoot Macs Made After June 2013. Open the app by option-clicking on the Wi-Fi indicator in the menu bar and select ‘Open Wireless Diagnostics …’. The Mac Mini labeled 4 is suggested to provide local copies of boot-up and recovery tools to avoid large, repetitive downloads.Apple ships a little-known utility app that helps you analyze and diagnose your Wi-Fi connection, called Wireless Diagnostics. A diagram from the Apple Services Toolkit 2 manual, showing the need for a technician’s computer (3) to have an active Global Services Exchange connection (2) to run diagnostics on the device being repaired (1).Turn on your Macthen immediately press and hold the D key on your keyboard. Well get into the details in a moment, but basically what you do is start the DDV in Windows, then go to any compatible Office desktop application - such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint - and turn on diagnostic data Frustrated by bad WiFi on Mac OS X? This guide may help you get better WiFi on your computer.Shut down your Mac. This tool is functionally similar to Apple Hardware Test, but instead of the retro macOS look, it feels like you never quite left the boot screen.The Diagnostic Data Viewer (DDV) has been able to show you the Windows diagnostic data, and on Windows and Mac weve now enabled it to show you Office diagnostic data as well.
![]() As 2.4GHz usually provides longer range signals, a common error for Wi-Fi performance is to simply move closer to the unit so the laptop can pickup the (faster) 5GHz link.Another interesting data point to check is the Tx rate which states the maximum possible transfer speed for the current connection. If you have super-fast fiber broadband but your quoted Tx rate is only 78 Mbps, don’t be disappointed when your maximum Internet speed is also capped at 78. For example, if you are running a dual-band Wi-Fi network like the AirPort Extreme, it’s worth checking that you are actually running on the GHz band that you expect.If you were expecting to see 5GHz listed but don’t, first check your router configuration and then try moving closer to the base station. The current noise and RSSI levels are also displayed here, more on that later.This screen is useful for quick diagnosis of the most obvious problems. Use Apple Diagnostics For Your Update With TheThese logs are not that simple to decipher for humans, however, and are very noisy.One nice thing it does do is keep a periodic history of Wi-Fi connection quality, assuming you can read through the extraneous lines. LogsThe Logs tab is perhaps the most inscrutable window in Wireless Diagnostics as its entire purpose is to record relevant network process activity to a system log file which can then be inspected in the Console app. The Wireless Diagnostics panels update with the new live values if the Tx rate changes. ScanLikely the most useful window, Scan relays information about your network and the other networks in the vicinity. A more approachable version of the same information can be found in other views. Afterwards, export the log and extract the best and worst case readings. The left-hand side of the Scan window suggests the best ‘clear’ channels in the area for both 2.4 GHz and 5GHz.If you are experiencing intermittent service with your Wi-Fi, check this screen and set your router to use a different channel for its communications, picking the “best” one for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands as suggested by the application. Having too many Wi-Fi stations communicating on the same band/channel can also cause crippling interference problems which results in unreliable internet and connections that drop out. Scan allows you to see the channels on which these other Wi-Fi routers are operating.When you think about Wi-Fi, normally it’s in the context of interference from interior walls. Lower is better (so larger absolute numbers). Numbers closer to zero) are better. For Apple hardware, aim for numbers above -60 in general.The noise reading rates nearby interference from other wireless equipment using the same spectrum most of this comes from other wireless access points. To confuse matters, dBM readings are measured from 0 to -100, so smaller numbers in magnitude (i.e. You can drag the dividers between the items to make the graphs larger or smaller, though. It’s probably time to explain these concepts.RSSI is best thought of as a measure of signal strength, even if that isn’t wholly accurate. The higher, the better. PerformanceThe Performance tab plots RSSI and Noise levels on a graph. Unfortunately, the interface is lacklustre and non-interactive: you can’t click on individual readings or zoom into the graphs for example. I currently live in a block of flats so it’s prone to network congestions, with every flat having its own distinct Wi-Fi setup. Download serum plugin for abletonThis isn’t really helpful to diagnosing Wi-Fi performance so you can ignore the tab. Weirdly, the app can’t open the log files that it creates so you’ll have to use a third-party tool.The best choice is an app called Wireshark: the logs show all the traffic channeling over the network. The tool captures packets from a given channel and saves them to a file. SnifferSniffer records packets from the local network to review later. Powerline network extenders are also really useful to combat connectivity dead spots in your house it’s a simple matter of plugging a little adapter into the wall to bring solid Internet to the zone.If you live close to a lot of other houses with their own access points (flats) and are experiencing a flakey connection, check the channel your router is operating at in the Scan view and change it to one of the suggested channels. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the Wi-Fi routers from your cable provider are almost always inferior to dedicated hardware.Apple’s latest AirPort Extreme is simple to set up and well-specced although arguably better routers are also available from other manufacturers, like this ASUS router, if you don’t mind a bit more technical setup and configuration. ConclusionThe most important stats are the Tx rate, the RSSI and the signal-to-noise ratio. If these numbers are worse than you expect, it’s time to buy new routers, add wireless repeaters or move closer to the router itself. Once you have switched up your setup, use the Wireless Diagnostics tools again to see if the change you made were an improvement to overall signal strength.Although moving antennas or hardware around can help, if you want better speed, often you will have to resort to buying new equipment. It intelligently resizes to show subsets of the data as well, if you prefer a more compact form. It includes IP address, transmit rate, signal and noise graphs, and more. With a dark black appearance, you could even leave this panel open on your desktop — almost like a widget.
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