Option-click the Wi-Fi icon for hidden connection details — via Apple Support

Tricklow riskmacOS 14 Sonoma and later

Holding Option while you click the Wi-Fi icon turns the simple network list into a detailed readout: your IP address, router address, channel, band, security type and Wi-Fi standard. Handy for working out why one room has bad Wi-Fi.

Takes effect right away

How to do it

  1. Hold Option and click the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar.
  2. The details appear under the network you're connected to.
The old airport command-line tool that power users relied on for this was deprecated in macOS Sonoma 14.4. Apple points to Wireless Diagnostics or sudo wdutil info instead, but wdutil needs administrator rights.

Sources

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.

wi-fioption clickip addresschannelwifi detailsairport

More in Networking

Flush the DNS cache — via Marc Abramowitz

Commandlow riskAdmin

If a website moved to a new server, or you changed DNS settings and some sites still won't load, your Mac may be holding on to old address lookups. Flushing the DNS cache makes it look them up fresh. It's a troubleshooting step, not a speed boost.

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

Commandlow risk

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.