Your Mac has a hidden internet speed test tool

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Macbook Air M1
Macbook Air M1 (Image credit: Daniel Bader / Android Central)

What you need to know

  • macOS Monterey has a new network speed test checker.
  • You can check the quality of your network connection using the Terminal app and a single command.

If you want to test the speed of your internet you probably fire up a website or use an app, right? But did you know that your Mac already has an app built right in, specially designed for the task? You do now!

I've been using Macs for more years than I care to remember and I've always used various tools to test whether my internet connection is misbehaving or not. But I came across a tweet over the weekend that showed that our Macs already have an app that does the job — you just need to run a simple command via the Terminal app. Simply open a Terminal window, type networkquality and hit the Return key. It's all surprisingly simple and you'll even get some handy stats afterward. Want to know more? append -v for a more verbose output.

Your output won't look as lovely as Luke's because he's done some mock-up magic to get that screenshot, but you'll get the same data. The tool tests for your upload speed, download speed, responsiveness, and more. Pretty cool, right?

Here's what my output looks like to give you an idea of what to expect:

Macos Networkquality Output

Macos Networkquality Output (Image credit: Oliver Haslam / iMore)

I ran this test running the latest version of macOS Monterey — and it looks like the app was added as part of the Monterey release last year. We probably missed it because we were all so excited about the idea of Universal Control!

Find that your network isn't as fast as you'd have hoped? Check out our list of the best Wi-Fi routers for Apple devices and plan your next upgrade!

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.