Quick answer: The quickest way to test internet speed on a Mac is built in. Open Terminal, type networkQuality and press Return. About 20 seconds later macOS shows your download and upload capacity and a responsiveness rating. For a one-off test in a browser, use speed.cloudflare.com or speedtest.net. To see your speed all the time and catch slowdowns as they happen, use a menu bar monitor such as PeakHour, which shows live bandwidth and latency and keeps a history.

The 7 ways at a glance

Method Built in? Best for Shows history
1. networkQuality in Terminal Yes An accurate one-off test, including responsiveness No
2. Browser speed test No install A quick check from any Mac Some sites
3. Menu bar monitor (PeakHour) App Live speed, latency and alerts all the time Yes
4. Activity Monitor Yes Seeing which apps are using your connection right now No
5. Wi-Fi link rate (Option-click Wi-Fi) Yes Checking whether Wi-Fi is the bottleneck No
6. Speedtest app for Mac App A familiar, repeatable test with saved results Yes
7. Router or ISP speed test Varies Measuring the line itself, without Wi-Fi in the way Varies

1. Use the built-in networkQuality command

Every Mac running macOS Monterey (12) or later has a speed test built in. It uses Apple’s own servers, so there are no ads and nothing to install.

  1. Press Command + Space, type Terminal and press Return.
  2. Type networkQuality and press Return.
  3. Wait about 20 seconds. You’ll see:
    • Uplink capacity: your upload speed, in Mbps
    • Downlink capacity: your download speed, in Mbps
    • Responsiveness: a rating (High, Medium or Low) with an RPM figure (round-trips per minute)

Responsiveness matters as much as speed. It measures how well your connection copes while it’s busy. A Low rating means video calls, games and page loads will feel laggy under load even if the Mbps numbers look fine. That usually points to bufferbloat on your router (see our guide to fixing slow internet on Mac). If calls cut out rather than lag, run a packet loss test: most speed tests don’t measure lost packets.

Useful options:

Command What it does
networkQuality -v Verbose output: latency, the test server and more detail
networkQuality -s Tests download and upload one after the other instead of together (closer to how browser tests work)
networkQuality -I en0 Tests a specific interface, for example Wi-Fi vs. an Ethernet adapter
networkQuality -c Prints the results as JSON, for scripts and logging

Type man networkQuality to see every option.

2. Run a speed test in your browser

A browser test works on any Mac and takes a few seconds.

  • speed.cloudflare.com shows download, upload, latency, jitter and packet loss, which is more than most tests show.
  • speedtest.net (Ookla) lets you pick a nearby server and keeps your past results if you sign in.
  • fast.com (Netflix) is the simplest. Click Show more info to see upload speed and latency.

For a fair result: close other tabs and apps, pause iCloud or Dropbox syncing, and turn off your VPN (unless the VPN is what you want to test).

3. Show your internet speed in the Mac menu bar

macOS doesn’t show live network speed in the menu bar. To keep an eye on it without running a test each time, you need a menu bar app.

PeakHour is a network monitor built for macOS. After setup it shows, in your menu bar:

  • Live download and upload speed for your Mac, and for your whole network if your router supports UPnP or SNMP
  • Latency to your router, your ISP and the wider internet, so you can see where a slowdown starts
  • Scheduled speed tests with Apple’s responsiveness (RPM) score
  • History charts for bandwidth and latency, going back weeks or months
  • Notifications when your connection drops and when it comes back

To set it up: install PeakHour from the Mac App Store, follow the setup assistant (it finds your router automatically), then choose which monitors appear in the menu bar. PeakHour needs macOS 14.6 Sonoma or later. It costs $19.99 a year or $59.99 once, and there’s a free trial. See all features →

Other menu bar options include Bandwidth+ (free, live speed only) and iStat Menus (a paid, system-wide monitor). See our comparison of bandwidth monitors for Mac.

4. See what’s using your connection in Activity Monitor

Activity Monitor doesn’t measure how fast your connection can go. It shows how much each app is using right now, which is useful when a test comes back slow.

  1. Open Activity Monitor (Applications → Utilities).
  2. Click the Network tab.
  3. Click the Rcvd Bytes or Sent Bytes column to sort apps by usage.
  4. The graph at the bottom shows total Data received/sec and Data sent/sec.

To keep an eye on it, choose View → Dock Icon → Show Network Usage so the Dock icon becomes a live graph.

If a speed test is slow, check whether Wi-Fi is the limit before you blame your ISP.

  1. Hold Option and click the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar (or in Control Center).
  2. Look at Tx Rate: the speed of the link between your Mac and your router.
  3. Also note RSSI (signal strength; anything better than about −67 dBm is good) and Channel (it tells you whether you’re on 2.4, 5 or 6 GHz).

If your Tx Rate is close to your plan speed or below it, Wi-Fi is the bottleneck. Move closer to the router, switch to 5 or 6 GHz, or use Ethernet.

6. Use the Speedtest app for Mac

Ookla’s free Speedtest app from the Mac App Store runs the same test as speedtest.net and keeps a list of your results. It’s handy if you want to repeat a test at the same server over several days.

7. Test from your router or ISP

Many routers and ISP apps (eero, Google Nest Wifi, Ubiquiti, and most ISP gateways) can run a speed test from the router itself. That measures your internet line with Wi-Fi taken out.

Compare the two numbers: if the router test is fast and your Mac’s test is slow, the problem is Wi-Fi or the Mac. If both are slow, it’s the line or the ISP. Here’s how to track ISP performance over time →

What’s a good internet speed?

  • The FCC’s definition of US broadband is 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload.
  • Netflix recommends 15 Mbps for a 4K stream.
  • For video calls and gaming, latency and responsiveness matter more than raw speed. Aim for a stable ping under about 50 ms and a responsiveness rating of Medium or High.

Your result will almost always be a little below your plan’s advertised speed. It’s only worth calling your ISP if it’s well below, repeatedly, and at different times of day. A monitor that logs speed and latency over time gives you the evidence.

How to get an accurate result

  • Use Ethernet if you can, or sit close to the router.
  • Close apps that sync or stream, and pause backups.
  • Turn off your VPN and iCloud Private Relay for the test.
  • Test at a few different times of day. Evening slowdowns usually mean congestion at your ISP.
  • Run two different tests (for example networkQuality and Cloudflare) and compare.

FAQs

How do I show internet speed in the Mac menu bar?

macOS can’t do this on its own. Install a menu bar bandwidth monitor such as PeakHour, which shows live download and upload speed plus latency, and can alert you when the connection drops.

Is networkQuality accurate?

Yes. It tests against Apple’s content delivery network with several parallel connections, so it will fill a fast line. Results can differ from Speedtest or Cloudflare because each uses different servers. Run two tests and compare.

Why is my Mac’s speed test slower than my phone’s?

Usually it’s the Wi-Fi signal where the Mac sits, a VPN or iCloud Private Relay that’s only on the Mac, or apps syncing in the background. See how to fix slow internet on a Mac.

Can I check internet speed on a Mac without installing anything?

Yes. Use networkQuality in Terminal, or open any browser speed test.

Related: Slow internet on Mac? Find the cause · How to track ISP performance · Track your monthly internet usage