The Problem with Third-Party Speed Tests
When your internet feels sluggish, or a video call drops out, the natural instinct is to open a web browser and visit a site like Speedtest.net or Fast.com. While these websites are excellent for determining the maximum theoretical bandwidth your ISP is providing, they are bloated with ads, require a web browser, and often measure against servers that are optimized specifically for generating high scores.
Starting with macOS Monterey (macOS 12), Apple quietly introduced a native, command-line network diagnostic tool called networkquality. This tool runs directly from the Terminal, bypasses the browser entirely, and focuses not just on raw speed, but on the actual responsiveness of your connection, which is far more important for modern tasks like Zoom calls and online gaming.
How to Run the Native Speed Test
Using the tool is incredibly straightforward.
- Open the Terminal application (found in Applications > Utilities, or by searching Spotlight).
- Type the following command and press Enter:
networkqualityThe test will begin immediately. You will see a live, updating output of your upload and download speeds. The test usually takes about 15 to 20 seconds to complete.
Understanding the Output
When the test finishes, you will receive a clean summary block that looks something like this:
==== SUMMARY ====
Upload capacity: 45.2 Mbps
Download capacity: 350.5 Mbps
Upload responsiveness: High (1545 RPM)
Download responsiveness: Medium (432 RPM)
Idle latency: 12 milliseconds
1. Upload and Download Capacity
This is the standard metric you are used to seeing (Megabits per second). It measures the raw pipe size of your connection.
2. Responsiveness (RPM)
This is the killer feature of the networkquality command. RPM stands for Round-trips Per Minute. It measures how many consecutive round-trips the network can complete under working conditions.
- Low: If anyone else on your network is downloading a large file, your FaceTime call will likely freeze or lag.
- Medium: You might notice slight delays if the network is under heavy load.
- High: Your connection can handle multiple devices streaming and downloading simultaneously without affecting the quality of real-time applications like video conferencing or gaming.
Apple categorizes this because raw speed doesn’t guarantee a smooth experience. You can have a 1 Gigabit connection (massive capacity) but terrible responsiveness due to router bufferbloat.
Advanced Options
The tool includes several flags for power users.
Test Only One Direction
If you only care about your upload speed (perhaps you are about to upload a massive 4K video to YouTube), you can force the tool to only test sequentially, rather than simultaneously.
networkquality -sOutput as JSON
If you are writing a shell script to log your network performance over time, you can instruct the tool to output the results in JSON format so it can be easily parsed by Python or saved to a database.
networkquality -cConclusion
By bypassing ad-heavy websites and focusing on “Responsiveness” rather than just raw bandwidth, the macOS networkquality command provides a far more accurate representation of how your internet connection handles the demands of modern, real-time applications.