User Guide

Check My Network

A quick test with real answers

The Check My Network button runs a 15-20 second test and gives you letter grades for streaming, gaming, and video calls.

How to run it

  1. Open the Network Weather window.
  2. Click Check My Network at the top.
  3. If you want, type what went wrong (like "video call froze"). This gets saved with your results.
  4. Wait about 20 seconds. You'll see speed numbers updating in real time.

What it tests

  • Download speed: How fast data gets to your Mac.
  • Bufferbloat: Whether your router chokes under pressure. This is a sneaky cause of laggy calls. Your speed might be fine, but if your router can't handle the load, everything feels slow.
  • Every link under load: The test checks each part of your network while the connection is busy, not just when it's idle. Problems that only show up under pressure are the ones that matter most.

The grades

You get a letter grade from A to F for each type of activity:

Streaming (Netflix, YouTube, etc.) mostly needs steady download speed. An A means 4K with no buffering. C or below and you'll probably see it stutter.

Gaming cares about latency and jitter more than raw speed. A fast connection still gets an F if your router has bad bufferbloat, because every button press feels delayed.

Video calls (Zoom, Teams, Meet) are the pickiest. They need decent speed both ways, low latency, low jitter, and no packet loss. If your network has any weak spot, this is usually where you notice it first.

What's in the breakdown

Below the grades, you'll see timing for each step of the connection:

  • DNS lookup: How long it took to find the server. Over 100ms means your DNS might be slow.
  • TLS handshake: Setting up a secure connection. Usually under 50ms.
  • Time to first byte: How long until data started flowing.
  • Download: The actual transfer.

Each link in your network also shows its own numbers during the test, so you can see exactly which one struggled.

Sharing your results

After the test, you can copy results two ways:

  • As text: A plain summary you can paste into a support chat or email.
  • As JSON: Structured data your IT team can dig into.

This is handy when calling your ISP. Instead of "my internet is slow," you can show them exactly where the slowdown is.

Good times to run it

  • Before a big meeting or call
  • When things feel slow and you want proof
  • While talking to your ISP about a problem
  • After you move your router or change WiFi settings, to see if it helped

A few tips

Close big downloads or streaming before running the test. The test measures what's available, and other traffic eats into that.

Run it at different times of day. Networks slow down during peak hours, especially in the evening.

If your grades swing a lot between tests, that's a clue by itself. It usually means congestion or an unstable connection.