Run Apple's built-in internet speed test — via SS64

Commandlow riskmacOS 14 Sonoma and later

macOS has its own speed test in Terminal. Besides download and upload speed, it measures 'responsiveness' (round trips per minute while the line is busy), which explains why video calls stutter on a connection that looks fast.

Takes effect right away

The easy way

Run the command and wait for the results.
Add -s to test download and upload one after the other instead of at the same time, or -I en0 to test a specific network interface.

Command

Run in Terminal (Applications › Utilities).

networkQuality -v

The test uses some data, so be careful on metered connections. Higher responsiveness (RPM) is better.

Sources

networkQuality — by SS64

Source reviewed: 2026-11-02
Link checked: 2026-11-02
Tested hands-on: Not by Oddbyte.Me

Oddbyte.Me hasn't tried this on every macOS version, so keep the undo handy.

speed testnetworkqualityinternet speedlatencyresponsivenessbufferbloat

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