When the internet feels slow, WiFi or ISP measures both sides of the line at the same moment: the round trip to your router, and the round trip past it to the internet. If the router answers fast and the internet doesn't, it's your ISP. If even the router is slow, it's your Wi-Fi or your router. Then it tells you what to try, in order.
Install
Requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on Apple Silicon or Intel.
Download: get the DMG from Releases, open it, and drag WiFi or ISP to Applications. It's signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens without warnings, and it updates itself.
Or with Homebrew:
brew install --cask coreyhaines31/tap/wifiorisp
Or ask your AI agent
Paste this into Claude Code, Codex, or another coding agent:
Install the macOS app "WiFi or ISP" for me.
If Homebrew is installed (check with `command -v brew`), run:
brew install --cask coreyhaines31/tap/wifiorisp
Otherwise, download and install the signed DMG:
curl -fL -o /tmp/WiFiOrISP.dmg https://github.com/coreyhaines31/wifiorisp/releases/latest/download/WiFiOrISP.dmg
hdiutil attach -nobrowse -quiet -mountpoint /tmp/wifiorisp-dmg /tmp/WiFiOrISP.dmg
ditto "/tmp/wifiorisp-dmg/WiFi or ISP.app" "/Applications/WiFi or ISP.app"
hdiutil detach -quiet /tmp/wifiorisp-dmg
Then open it with: open -a "WiFi or ISP"
It's a menu bar app with no Dock icon. Tell me to look for the small router
icon near the clock, and that its welcome window asks about Location access
(only used to show the Wi-Fi network name) and opening at login.
Finally, run `wifiorisp status` (Homebrew puts it on the PATH; otherwise it's
"/Applications/WiFi or ISP.app/Contents/MacOS/wifiorisp") and tell me what it says.
Or use it from Claude Desktop
Install WiFi or ISP first, then download wifiorisp.mcpb and double-click it (or drag it onto Claude Desktop) to add the WiFi or ISP extension. Ask Claude things like is it my Wi-Fi or my ISP?, why is my internet slow?, is my ISP down?, or write up last week's outages for my ISP.
The extension runs the wifiorisp command from your installed app. It reads the verdict (status), the log (history), and the ISP report (report), and passes Claude only the fields it needs: never your IP address, your router's or access point's hardware address, or where you are (the ISP report does name your time zone, so its times make sense). Speed and lag tests are off unless you turn them on in the extension's settings, because M-Lab publishes every speed test result, including your IP address. The source is in mcpb/; cd mcpb && npm install && npm run pack builds mcpb/dist/wifiorisp.mcpb, and npm test calls every tool on your Mac.
Your first two minutes
- Open WiFi or ISP from Applications. There's no Dock icon and no window to look for: it lives in the menu bar, as a small router icon near the clock.
- A welcome window appears once. It offers two things:
- Show your Wi-Fi network's name. macOS treats network names as location data, so the app needs Location access to show yours. It never asks where you are, and everything else works without it ("Unknown network" is the only difference).
- Open at login, so it keeps watching after a restart. On by default.
- macOS may ask two more questions the first time they matter:
- "Find devices on your local network" (macOS 15 and later): allow it. The app needs it to time your router. It doesn't look for or connect to anything else.
- Notifications: allow them if you want to hear about drops, falling back to 2.4 GHz, or roaming to a weaker access point.
- Wait about 30 seconds. The first verdict needs a few measurements.
Can't see the icon? On MacBooks with a notch, a crowded menu bar hides icons behind it. Hold ⌘ and drag other icons out of the way, or quit a few menu bar apps.
Reading it
The menu bar icon is a little router. Its three lights show your Wi-Fi signal. When something is slow, the lights go dark and a word appears next to it: WiFi, Router, or ISP, whichever side is at fault. A slash through the router means you're not connected to any network.
Click it for the verdict and the numbers behind it:
| You see | It means | First thing to try |
|---|
| Fine: WiFi and ISP both OK | Both sides answer quickly | Nothing. Run a lag test once to check calls won't stutter |
| Slow: weak WiFi signal | Even your router is slow, and the signal is weak | Move closer, or use the 5 or 6 GHz network |
| Slow: WiFi or router, not ISP | Strong signal, but the router is slow to answer | Restart the router, then try a quieter channel |
| Slow: ISP, not WiFi | Your router is quick; the internet past it isn't | Check your provider's outage page, then restart the modem |
| Offline: ISP is down, WiFi is fine | Your router answers; nothing past it does | Wait it out; the app logs when it started and ended |
| Offline: can't reach your router | Your Mac lost the router | Check the router is on, then move closer |
Under every verdict is What to do: a short list of next steps, tailored to your router's maker and your provider when the app can tell them. Each step opens the right guide, starts a test, or exports your report. If the app finds a limit no setting can fix (a router older than your Mac, Wi-Fi slower than your plan, no smart queueing to stop lag), it says so and links to what would.
여기까지가 README 앞부분입니다. 나머지는 원문에서 읽을 수 있습니다. README 전문 보기 ↗
