Wireless network analysis tips and tools for Mac

Struggling with constant WiFi drop outs on your home or business Apple Mac network? Do you have multiple Airport Express or Airport Extreme repeaters but still suffering from low Wireless signals? You may need to replace your equipment, changing the location of your devices or adjust the channel they are transmitting on.

This guide will help you resolve your wireless networking issues. These trouble shooting steps are for Apple users and can be used on MacBook and iMac. It doesn’t matter if you have your own modem/routers or ones from your ISP. All brand’s and manufacturers are supported (TP-Link, Netgear, D-Link, Asus, NetComm, DrayTek, Billion, Cisco, Linksys etc…).

Opening the Wireless Diagnostics tool

Locate the WiFI icon from the top OS X menu – next to your clock in the top right

1. Hold down the Option key on your keyboard
2. Click on the WiFi Icon
3. Select Open Wireless Diagnostics – this will bring up the WiFi network analysis tool

Performing a WiFI scan of nearby networks

Locate the main Window menu – next to the Apple symbol near the top left

1. Click on Window
2. Select Scan – you will now see a list of all nearby networks
3. Select your wireless network and look at the summary on the left
   1. You can now see the current channel the network is running on and the best 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz channels for it to be using

Reconfiguring your router for the best WiFi channel

Now that we know which network channel is the best for us to use we need to reconfigure our routers and Airport Express repeaters. Most routers have a common LAN IP of 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. Most routers default username/password is either admin/admin or admin/password. It is recommended to be connected on a hard wired connection when updating settings and firmware on a modem/router. So if you are using your iMac or MacBook on a WiFi connection at the moment please connect an Ethernet cable.

1. Open your preferred internet browser (Safari, Chrome or Firefox – we prefer Firefox)
2. Enter your routers IP address in the address bar and press Enter
3. You will now see a log-in screen asking you for your routers log-in and password, enter these
4. Now find the wireless configuration settings for your 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz WiFi connection
5. Change the channel from Auto to the best suited channel as determined in the WiFi Scan above
6. Save your settings and reboot your router as necessary
7. Repeat the above steps for your repeaters, extenders and access points to gain optimal WiFi speeds

This article is for educational purposes only, use at your own risk. Please contact us for expert MacBook & iMac computer repairs.

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