The Demise of Network Utility
For over a decade, macOS included a brilliant, user-friendly graphical application called Network Utility. Tucked away in the Utilities folder, it provided a clean, windowed interface for running standard IT diagnostics: pinging servers, tracing network routes, scanning ports, and looking up DNS records. It was the perfect bridge for users who needed advanced network data but were intimidated by the Terminal.
Starting with macOS Big Sur, Apple deprecated Network Utility. If you attempt to open the app on a modern Mac, you are greeted with a stark message: “Network Utility is deprecated. Please use Terminal to reach these tools.”
While the graphical interface is gone, the underlying tools remain entirely functional. To troubleshoot your Mac’s network connection today, you must learn the direct Command Line Interface (CLI) equivalents.
Accessing the Tools
All of these commands are run through the macOS command line.
- Open the Terminal application (found in Applications > Utilities, or by searching Spotlight).
1. Ping (Testing Connectivity)
The ping command is the most fundamental network test. It sends tiny packets of data to a remote server and measures how long it takes for them to bounce back.
The Command:
ping google.comHow to Read It: The terminal will output a new line every second. You are looking for two things: the time= value (lower is better; under 50ms is excellent) and ensuring you do not see “Request timeout” (which indicates packet loss or a dead connection).
Important Difference: Unlike Windows, where ping automatically stops after four requests, macOS will ping infinitely. You must press Ctrl + C to stop the command and view the final statistics summary.
2. Traceroute (Finding the Bottleneck)
If your internet feels incredibly slow, but your Wi-Fi is connected, the problem might be a failing router halfway across the country. traceroute maps the exact path your data takes, router by router (or “hop by hop”), to reach its destination.
The Command:
traceroute google.comHow to Read It: The output will list each hop along the route. The first hop is usually your home Wi-Fi router. The second hop is your ISP’s modem. If you see three asterisks (* * *) on a specific line, it means that specific router is failing to respond, helping you pinpoint exactly where the connection is dying.
3. Nslookup (Checking DNS Records)
When you type “google.com” into Safari, your Mac relies on a DNS server to translate that human-readable name into an IP address (like 142.250.190.46). If the DNS server is slow or broken, the internet appears to be down.
The Command:
nslookup digitash.comHow to Read It: The output will first tell you which “Server” you are currently using for DNS (e.g., 1.1.1.1 or your ISP’s default). It will then provide the “Non-authoritative answer,” which is the IP address of the website you requested. If it fails to return an IP address, you have a DNS configuration problem.
4. Netstat (Viewing Active Connections)
If you suspect a rogue application is secretly transmitting data in the background, you can use netstat to view every single active network connection your Mac is currently maintaining.
The Command:
netstat -an | grep ESTABLISHEDHow to Read It: This specific variation filters the massive netstat output to only show connections that are currently active (“ESTABLISHED”). It will show the local IP of your Mac, the foreign IP of the server you are connected to, and the specific port being used.
Conclusion
While the loss of the graphical Network Utility is frustrating for many users, the transition to the Terminal is an excellent opportunity to learn the raw commands. These CLI tools are universal, meaning the skills you learn in the macOS Terminal translate perfectly to Linux administration and general network engineering.