K Shaffer
Level 6 (14,350 points)
Desktops

Q: how does 'wireless diagnostics' work?

After some reading around, I sought to see a report of the status of my

wireless (airport, etc) network and chose to open Wireless Diagnostic.

 

Screen Shot 2016-05-06 at 12.22.29 PM.png

 

A resulting folder with many items inside, was generated on Finder's

desktop; however there does not appear to be one Report, nor does

there appear a way to read a synopsis or an over-view of Diagnostic.

 

Screen Shot 2016-05-06 at 12.30.45 PM.png

Is there an item in the resulting report folder that I should simply click-on to have a diagnostic report in

synopsis or complete and readable comprehensive informative over-view, appear? This is not helpful.

 

Since I seldom ask more than rhetorical questions in ASC discussion, this is a minor irritant that I hope

someone can clear up for me. And I realize the hardware (wi-fi airport) is an older vintage; it does allow

my older Macs to communicate online and I can manage the old airport in their software, too.

 

The AirPort and local network seems to be working OK now. When it fails, I look to ISP hardware & reset.

Thank you for any insight into this curiosity...

Posted on May 6, 2016 1:37 PM

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K Shaffer

Q: how does 'wireless diagnostics' work?

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  • by Carolyn Samit,Helpful

    Carolyn Samit Carolyn Samit May 6, 2016 1:47 PM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 10 (122,086 points)
    Apple Music
    May 6, 2016 1:47 PM in response to K Shaffer

    Hi K ...

     

    Try the UserDiagnosticReports folder.

     

     

    According to Apple, all it does is save the folder to your desktop say you mentioned.


    Save a report

    "After finishing the assistant, a compressed file beginning with the name "WirelessDiagnostics-" is saved to your desktop. This file contains details about your wireless environment and your Wi-Fi connection. You can send this file to a network specialist (like your IT department or a consultant) if you still have issues connecting to your Wi-Fi network."

    From here > Use Wireless Diagnostics to help you resolve Wi-Fi issues on your Mac - Apple Support


     

    "The AirPort and local network seems to be working OK now. When it fails, I look to ISP hardware & reset."

     

    I do the same thing. 99% of the time that does the job.

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass May 6, 2016 1:56 PM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 10 (188,838 points)
    Desktops
    May 6, 2016 1:56 PM in response to K Shaffer

    You are connected to a G network and all G networks are 2.4 GHz.

    You have a transmission rate (Tx) of 11 which is very slow. 2.4 GHz networks are typically slow especially if using the G band.

    I am connected to a 5 GHz AC network and have a transmission rate 351

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer May 6, 2016 2:18 PM in response to lllaass
    Level 6 (14,350 points)
    Desktops
    May 6, 2016 2:18 PM in response to lllaass

    Yes, I am aware of  technical specs of my vintage AirPort wi-fi (express) in use.

    Also have similar spec AirPort Extreme (last orb with 56k modem inside) in box.

    The evidence of specs was in the wi-fi dropdown menu screenshot posted above.

     

    Without buying any newer AirPort hardware, or changing the present configuration

    due to older Macs in my collection, and fiscal reasons, I'm aware this would be slow.

     

    However I sought an overview of the Diagnostic useful from a personal point of view

    and it would seem the product is not really intended helpful for the private user; even

    one with variety of different areas of technical & practical experiences.

     

    The old AirPort Express is rather nearby and isn't too terribly slow; also it is located

    up high so the area it could reach is expanded. Unlike the orb model it hasn't any

    provision for an external antenna; I have several of the Extremes of that vintage,

    one at the old house which allowed a few acres of wi-fi coverage outdoors.

     

    Thank you again for the replies.

  • by John Galt,Helpful

    John Galt John Galt May 6, 2016 2:49 PM in response to K Shaffer
    Level 8 (49,117 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 6, 2016 2:49 PM in response to K Shaffer

    K Shaffer wrote:

     

    Is there an item in the resulting report folder that I should simply click-on to have a diagnostic report in

    synopsis or complete and readable comprehensive informative over-view, appear?

     

    Not really. There are only one or two reports that I have found useful from a user's perspective, one of which is named wireless_diagnostics-nnnnnn.log where nnnnnn = some random characters. Others are generic reports generated by sysdiagnose, iCloud reachability, etc. Some are not ASCII text at all, and require programs to read them that we don't have.

     

    AWD's most useful function for casual users is probably the Summary page displayed at the end. It will reports problems that are likely to be obvious to you, such as a crowded wireless environment, but might not be obvious to everyone.

     

    However I sought an overview of the Diagnostic useful from a personal point of view and it would seem the product is not really intended helpful for the private user; even one with variety of different areas of technical & practical experiences.


    I don't believe the end user is the intended audience for those reports. Use them as you see fit, otherwise just dispose of them. Most users will probably generate those reports only under direction of AppleCare. Even then, AppleCare reps are only likely to forward them to their engineers, whose interactions with others are subject to more scrutiny and censorship than that of Kim Jong-un's innermost confidants. That's probably just as well.


  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer May 6, 2016 2:58 PM in response to John Galt
    Level 6 (14,350 points)
    Desktops
    May 6, 2016 2:58 PM in response to John Galt

    That seems to cover most of what I'd either surmised or read at some point.

     

    Not that the results could make much sense, I was wondering what kind of

    readability an editor such as TextWrangler could make of the ASCII report

    where available from the above diagnostics.

     

    I did notice some of the reports will open in Console; so perhaps they may

    also act like a link to the same files in the host machine. but not so if read

    in some other computer where Console is a default file reader in that case.

    However this is presumptive on my part regarding this utility's handling of

    diagnostics when presented files from another computer, & it opens them.

     

    Thank you for rounding out this; and if I ever get to an Apple Store where they

    will pay attention to foot-traffic (I'd see about setting an Appointment for genius)

    I may schedule the computer to be looked over before its AppleCare expires.

     

    Several other diagnostics I had run were similarly useless by non-technical users.

    And so they were trashed as useless clutter; not unlike most of what's in my Mac.