MacBook How do you monitor wifi performance

I compiled information from separate documents, and found this works in El Capitan (never used this before, pretty cool 😉 ), but I don't know about Sierra:

Press Command Shift G

Enter: /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications

Enter password if asked

Double click on Wireless Diagnostics

When you launch the app, a screen appears to tell you what the tool does and asks you to let it run tests to determine the state of your current Wi-Fi connection; these can take a few minutes to complete.

While in Wireless Diagnostics, open the Utilities Window via the Menu bar (Command-2). This shows you much information inside: Info, Logging and Performance windows; A Frame Capture mode to sniff network traffic and a Wi-Fi Scan mode that captures useful info about your own and other networks in your area.

Check the channels

The first thing to check is what channel your network is on in comparison with other networks in your area. If you find you are sharing a channel with others nearby, it helps to change the channel on your router to one the other networks aren't using -- a clear channel usually improves reception quality.

You can use the information to determine the strength of your Wi-Fi signal (or use the Performance tab in this window to see how the tool sees your network performance in the Quality section to top left).

Assessing signal strength

The Wi-Fi scan pane offers two metrics to help you determine this: Signal(RSSI, Received Signal Strength Indication) and Noise.

The first refers to the strength of the signal between your Mac and your router. Higher numbers are better but because these are rated as minus numbers, it's important to note that an RSSI of -60 is actually much better than an RSSI of -80.

Noise refers to the amount of wireless noise that may be affecting Wi-Fi reception. Neighboring networks, or the usual network interference culprits such as microwaves or some cordless phones, can impact your reception. Like RSSI this is measured in minus numbers, but a lower number is best, so a Noise level of -46 is better than one of -40.

The difference between these numbers is the quality of your network, so if you have an RSSI of -47 and a Noise level of -96 then the difference is 49. This is called the SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) and the higher this number is the better your Wi-Fi performance will be. An SNR of 25 or above means you should have good performance.

Tips

The Performance pane shows you the quality of your Wi-Fi over time. Given that some electrical devices (including devices situated in neighboring rooms and homes) and other networks can impact your performance, you might want to keep an eye on this while moving your Mac around. You may eventually find a place in your space in which performance is better than anywhere else, or achieve better performance by switching off other computers or electrical devices.

Other terms that may be useful when using this tool:

• BSSID: This is the identifier for your airport hardware.
• Security: The kind of encryption used -- try to use WPA 2. Do not use WEP, as this is compromised.
• Transmit Rate: Data speed.

Can I enhance wifi performance on my MacBook

Not really. Its performance is limited to the design and functionality of the internal AirPort Extreme wireless card and the wireless antenna(s) that is(are) built-in.

Is there a way to monitor performance...

Yes. There are a number of ways to do so ... and I am assuming that by performance you are interested in the overall wireless bandwidth that your MacBook is capable of.

The simplest way to find out what the current Wi-Fi connection status is for your MacBook is to look at the Wi-Fi menu's values. To see the additional Wi-Fi values, be sure to hold down the Option key before clicking on the Wi-Fi icon in the macOS menu bar. Note that these will be the instantaneous values that are telling you the "quality" of the wireless connection between the MacBook and your wireless router is currently.

The values that you would be interested in are:

• RSSI - Received Signal Strength Indication measured in dBm. It's an indication of the power level of the signal as perceived by the antenna. Typically the higher the RSSI number the stronger the signal. RSSI is measured in arbitrary units. Some manufacturers use a positive scale, others like Apple, use a negative (0 to -100) scale. For the AirPort, the less negative the better.
• Noise - Signal's noise level measured in dBm.
• Tx Rate - Instantaneous maximum data transfer rate of the connection in Mbps.
• PHY Mode - The radio mode protocol that your Mac is connecting with.
• MCS Index - Modulation and Coding Scheme. The MCS value identifies a number of things, including number of spatial streams used in the Wi-Fi connection between the Mac and the wireless router. A larger or smaller MCS value is meaningless. Instead it defines the actual connection type.

If you provide them, I can help interpret them for you.

For monitoring performance in real time:

• From the Finder menu bar, select Go > Go to Folder...
• Enter: /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications
• Find and then double-click on Wireless Diagnostics.
• From the Wireless Diagnostics' menu bar, select Window > Monitor
• To see other useful diagnostic information, try the other Window options, like Scan or Performance.

Is CPU usage effecting my download speed and time taking to open websites?

Your download speed is controlled by your ISP and the current Internet conditions. If the CPU was the issue any activity you would perform on your Mac would appear to be sluggish, not just the Internet.

Poor website access performance is typically due to the DNS servers that you are using to "find" them. Think of DNS as the Internet's phone book. Where a website's URL (what you type into a web browser's address window) is matched to the site's actual IP address. By default, your ISP provides you with these DNS servers. You can elect to continue to use them or use ones that will provide you with better performance.

One way to test which would work best (performance-wise) for you, I would suggest that you try namebench (it's free). After it runs it will provide you with a report on a number of DNS servers and list them in order of performance. It may be worth a try.

Hi,

Wi-Fi should be 2.4GHz or 5GHz depending on your router and MacBook's capability.

EDIT: This doesn't work anymore. Just check the signal strength in the menu bar, the more the better. You can check the signal strength like this: http://osxdaily.com/2011/12/28/check-wireless-signal-strength-optimize-wifi-netw orks-mac-os-x/

I don't know if this still works in Sierra: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2476307/mac-os-x/mac-os-x-os-x-mavericks-us ing-apple-s-hidden-wi-fi-diagnostics-too…

You can monitor your Internet speed by going to a site like this: http://beta.speedtest.net. It should be close to what you signed up for with your ISP.

I don't believe CPU usage should have any effect on it.