If you've followed the steps to connect your Mac to a Wi-Fi network, but the connection to your network or the Internet isn't reliable, the steps in this article might help.

Check for Wi-Fi recommendations

• Choose a suitable location. Choose a convenient location to begin installing your router, such as an.
• Log into your account. Open your browser and enter the manufacturer’s default IP address, typically.

Best Routers For Mac Computers

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When your Mac tries to connect to a Wi-Fi network, it checks for issues that affect its ability to create a fast, stable, and secure connection. If an issue is detected, the Wi-Fi status menu in the menu bar shows a new item: Wi-Fi Recommendations. Choose it to see recommended solutions.

Wi-Fi recommendations are available in macOS Sierra or later.

Analyze your wireless environment

Your Mac can use Wireless Diagnostics to perform additional analysis.

1. Quit any apps that are open, and connect to your Wi-Fi network, if possible.
2. Press and hold Option (Alt) ⌥ key, then choose Open Wireless Diagnostics from the Wi-Fi status menu .
3. Enter your administrator name and password when prompted.

Wireless Diagnostics begins analyzing your wireless environment:

If the issue is intermittent, you can choose to monitor your Wi-Fi connection:

When you're ready to see recommendations, continue to the summary. Wireless Diagnostics asks for optional information about your base station or other router, so that it can include that in the report it saves to your Mac.

Click the info button next to each item in the summary to see details about that item. Wi-Fi best practices are tips that apply to most Wi-Fi networks.

Back up or make note of your network or router settings before changing them based on these recommendations—in case you need to use those settings again.

Monitor your Wi-Fi connection

Your Mac can monitor your Wi-Fi connection for intermittent issues, such as dropped connections. Follow the steps to analyze your wireless environment, but choose ”Monitor my Wi-Fi connection” when prompted.

During monitoring, a window shows that monitoring is in progress. Monitoring continues as long as this window is open and you're on the same Wi-Fi network, even when your Mac is asleep.

If Wireless Diagnostics finds an issue, it stops monitoring and shows a brief description of the issue. You can then resume monitoring or continue to the summary for details and recommendations.

Create a diagnostics report

Wireless Diagnostics automatically saves a diagnostics report before it displays its summary. You can create the same report at any time: press and hold the Option key, then choose Create Diagnostics Report from the Wi-Fi status menu . It can take your Mac several minutes to create the report.

• macOS Sierra and later saves the report to the /var/tmp folder of your startup drive, then opens that folder for you.
  To open the folder manually, choose Go > Go to Folder from the Finder menu bar, then enter /var/tmp.
• OS X El Capitan or earlier saves the report to your desktop.
  

The report is a compressed file with a name that begins “WirelessDiagnostics.” It contains many files that describe your wireless environment in detail. A network specialist can examine them for further analysis.

Use other diagnostics utilities

Wireless Diagnostics includes additional utilities for network specialists. Open them from the Window menu in the Wireless Diagnostics menu bar:

• Info gathers key details about your current network connections.
  
• Logs enables background logging for Wi-Fi and other system components. The result is saved to a .log file in the diagnostics report location on your Mac. Logging continues even when you quit the app or restart your Mac, so remember to disable logging when you're done.
  
• Scan finds Wi-Fi routers in your environment and gathers key details about them.
  
• Performance uses live graphs to show the performance of your Wi-Fi connection:
  • Rate shows the transmit rate over time in megabits per second.
  • Quality shows the signal-to-noise ratio over time. When the quality is too low, your device disconnects from the Wi-Fi router. Factors that affect quality include the distance between your device and the router, and objects such as walls that impede the signal from your router. Learn more.
  • Signal shows both signal (RSSI) and noise measurements over time. You want RSSI to be high and noise to be low, so the bigger the gap between RSSI and noise, the better.
• Sniffer captures traffic on your Wi-Fi connection, which can be useful when diagnosing a reproducible issue. Select a channel and width, then click Start to begin capturing traffic on that channel. When you click Stop, a .wcap file is saved to the diagnostics report location on your Mac.

Learn more

Additional recommendations for best Wi-Fi performance:

• Keep your router up to date. For AirPort Time Capsule, AirPort Extreme, or AirPort Express Base Station, check for the latest firmware using AirPort Utility. For non-Apple routers, check the manufacturer's website.
• Set up your router using Apple's recommended settings, and make sure that all Wi–Fi routers on the same network use similar settings. If you're using a dual-band Wi-Fi router, make sure that both bands use the same network name.
• Learn about potential sources of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth interference.

Learn about other ways to connect to the Internet.

Whether you’re an online gamer, a fan of streaming TV shows, or a complete workaholic, your Mac needs a good internet connection to satisfy all your needs. Although there are many good WiFi router models on the market, choosing the right one is crucial for maximizing what your Mac is capable of.

Best Router For Apple

Consider a few factors before setting on a hunt for the best Apple wireless router. For example, some of the things that would make the fastest wireless router package are your average internet plan speed, the size of your home, the number of connected devices, specific router features, and more. All of these will later impact the overall quality of your Mac router service.

How To Choose Good WiFi Routers

Take note of the following features before getting directly to the router reviews. When you’re looking for the best WiFi router, you should first find out the ultimate speed that your ISP can provide you with. While the fastest wireless router will definitely increase your internet speed, you won’t get the most out of it if it becomes limited by your ISP plan.

Another thing to keep in mind is the size of your home, since the best router for large house should have a wider coverage area, especially if you live in a multi-story residence.

The number of devices connected to your wireless network is another checkpoint before making a decision on your best router for Mac. Usually, an Apple WiFi router allows two connections at any given time, so if you need more, you have to make sure that your Mac router of choice allows for the number of connections you need.

The good news is, there’s a wide range of Apple WiFi router options out there and you can choose the model that fits within your usage preferences and budget. Let’s look at some of the best wireless routers and find out which one you need to get for your home.

Budget-friendly: D-Link DIR-842 WiFi router

D-Link’s DIR-842 is the best modem for everyone who doesn’t want to break the bank but really needs to optimize their network connection. Given that this Mac router’s biggest advantage is the price, it still offers lots of management settings, making it possible to meet any user’s needs.

In addition, D-Link has a proven track record of delivering good throughput performance in testing, which means it can handle a large number of transactions per second — in fact, it’s one of the fastest wireless routers, period. Another asset of D-Link’s modem worth mentioning is its dual-band WiFi, which allows it to transmit in either of two standard frequency ranges.

To be fair, there are also a few disadvantages to consider before settling on the D-Link Mac router: it has no USB ports and its antennas are non-removable, both of which can detract from the overall convenience.

Best router for large house: ASUS Dual-Band Gigabit WiFi

Living in a big house usually dictates using a different kind of tools, appliances, and gadgets than you normally would, and a Mac router is not an exception. If you want to be comfortably surfing the internet in every corner of your home, then an ASUS Dual-Band modem is perfect for you, since it easily covers spaces up to 5,000 square feet.

According to lots of users, ASUS Dual-Band Gigabit WiFi is not only an excellent home wireless network tool but also a powerful gaming device, with maximum speed of up to 3,100 Mbps. Additionally, this Apple wireless router allows you to connect up to eight Ethernet-compatible devices simultaneously, using Gigabit LAN ports.

One could say that a minor flaw of this otherwise good WiFi router is its flexible black antennas, which could partially block the WAN and USB ports for some setups.

Best router for multiple devices: Netgear Nighthawk X8 R8500

If you’re looking for a Mac network device that can handle multiple heavy streamers at once, Netgear Nighthawk X8 R8500 is the best router for Mac you’ll find. Its tri-band WiFi, Quad Stream, and MU-MIMO technology is able to provide you with the maximum possible amount of Apple WiFi connections. Besides, this modem has four active and four internal antennas to help you amplify the range of your connections.

Overall, Netgear Nighthawk might not be the cheapest Mac router out there, but it’s definitely the best router for multiple devices.

Get your Mac router up to full speed

Finding the best wireless router for Mac can help make your computer more productive, without a doubt. But if you want to get the most out of your Apple WiFi router, you also need to consider the potential modem location, analyze your WiFi coverage and performance, decide on the best access points, and visualize the spots with the strongest signal. If that sounds like too much of a hustle, you just need some good software to help you.

NetSpot is a truly smart app that gets you the best network connection possible without requiring you to have a technical background. Finally, the process of establishing and managing networks could be smooth and enjoyable. Built-in options like WiFi channel scanner and site survey make it easy to troubleshoot and boost your Apple WiFi network with speed tests and heat maps of your Mac router network in real time.

Using NetSpot is exceptionally straightforward:

1. Launch the NetSpot app and place your MacBook in the area you wish to survey

2. Click the switch in the upper-left corner of the screen to change it from Survey to Discover

3. NetSpot will detect and display all networks in range

4. At a glance you will be able to see specific details about each wireless network in the area

Check the efficacy of your Apple WiFi router

With your Mac router now working at its fastest speed after a thorough optimization by NetSpot, you can look at other ways of maintaining your Apple wireless router stellar performance.

WiFi Explorer is the perfect way to look after your network and apply quick fixes as they become necessary. With its set of powerful tools, this app analyzes your network environment and presents its precise state using visual graphs and a customized interface that is both functional and appealing.

Maintaining your network with WiFi Explorer is very easy:

1. Open the app and see the scan starting up

2. Click on any network from the list to see more information about it

3. To fix some of your network issues, click the Help tab in the menu bar and select WiFi Explorer Help

Best Routers For Mac Computers

As more and more of our time is spent online, having a fast and generally best home WiFi router becomes essential. Looking for the best routers for Mac will be easier if you familiarize yourself with all the available features and identify those that are important to you. Then you can easily locate the top modem that meets all your needs from the list above. And once you choose the Mac router of your dreams, don’t forget to optimize it by using NetSpot and maintain its grand performance with WiFi Explorer.

Another excellent feature of NetSpot and WiFi Explore — they are both available for a free seven-day trial through Setapp, a platform with more than 170 apps and utilities to enhance your experience of interacting with your Mac. Now that you’re an expert in finding the best wireless router for Mac, you’ll be able to make the right choice for your home among the many top routers 2020 has given us.

Best Apple Wireless Router

Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.

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