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I don't know enough about these "diagnostics" to know their actual or even potential value, but assuming that what is being monitored is the channel between my Mac and my Time Capsule only, I'd be even more interested in monitoring ALL the traffic in and out of the Time Capsule, as that would include three computers, two iPhones, and two Apple TVs.

I'd like to be able to know if and when my Wi Fi was being saturated or overtaxed.

Meh...

Can one put an Alias to it in the Utilities folder?

cseeman, on 05 September 2011 - 05:54 AM, said:

Certainly, simply Cmd-Option-Drag it to where ever you'd like the Alias to be.

It's not hidden. It's available via Airport Utility.app.

This post has been edited by Octavian: 05 September 2011 - 07:47 AM

Interesting.
You can also access the same info through Launch Pad>Utilities>Airport Utility.
Select the base station you want to monitor, then Manual Setup>Advanced>Logs and Statistics

Airport Utility only works with Airport not third party wifi routers, while the Wifi diagnostics works with any wireless router.

Instead of an alias, an easier solution in terms of off and on access would be to simply drag app from its location to either the Finder Toolbar, Finder Side/Source Column, or the Dock. No creating alias and relocating alias required.

This way, whenever you need to monitor or check performance, simply click on icon in Dock or Finder.

What might be a good signal-to-noise ratio?

Mine differs markedly from the screenshot shown with this article. My signal is about 32 and my noise is about 90. That's with my iMac and my Actiontec FiOS router about 4 feet apart.

Thanks.

TrevorRu, on 05 September 2011 - 07:47 AM, said:

As arschep has already said, Airport Utility only works with Apple networking gear. But more than that, it only captures the router side of the story. If you're having difficulty with a client-side connection, this tool is great.

I've been having difficulty with my university's WiFi since upgrading to Lion... the connection is unstable. It was fine with Snow Leopard. I've been combing through the Console trying to figure out what's triggering the instability but haven't had much luck. I'm hoping WiFi Diagnostic's Record Events tool will help me determine where the trouble is.

Gunni, on 05 September 2011 - 09:50 AM, said:

It's actually minus 32 vs minus 90, so that's a very good ratio.

Small quibble: this article gives two power user techniques for getting to the Wi-Fi Diagnostics app, but I don't see how either is easier or more efficient than doing it the old fashioned way - open a Finder window (command-F), select your hard drive in the sidebar (default Macintosh HD), double-click (in List view) System, double-click Library, double-click Core Services and hit W to select the app. It's just as easy to do in column view. Using the Go menu can be useful if you're looking for an invisible file or a file inside an invisible folder, but otherwise, typing a file path is hardly simple nor, given the potential for typos, is it efficient. The same goes for using Terminal. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me suggesting the Go menu and Terminal for folder navigation is just showing off - "See what a techie I am? I can do things the hard way!" I suppose the Go menu can also be useful, too, if you are copying a path from an article, as you might do in this case, if the path is too long to remember. Is System/Library/CoreServices too long to remember? I know, some people routinely use the Go menu for navigation, but I've never seen the advantage, except for the cases I mentioned.

This post has been edited by whitedog: 05 September 2011 - 01:21 PM

This sounds like it's a packet sniffer. Is it?