macOS: Collecting network diagnostic information

If you are experiencing persistent issues connecting to the campus Internet network, a technician may ask you to collect the diagnostic information.

Collecting Networking Packets for Diagnosis

Sometimes Chrome's DevTools can capture what you need to capture.

For more thorough capturing, use the built-in macOS tools:

1. Hold down the Option key while you click on the WiFi icon in your taskbar area (may be hidden inside the Control Center)
2. Select Open Wireless Diagnostics
3. Click through the messages that appear in the Wireless Diagnostics screens to begin monitoring your WiFi
4. Keep capturing data until the problem resolves or you're sure you've captured a few minutes of the problem (bear in mind that the file size gets larger and larger, so you may want to limit capture as much as possible)
5. Click Continue again to stop the capture
6. In the next screens enter your location information, etc.
7. When your diagnostics report is ready, email the file to the ITS technician (the helpdesk ticketing appliation may not accept the log file as an attachment)

Collecting Ping, Trace, and Internet Configuration Data

1. Open your Applications folder and go to Utilities and then Terminal
2. Type in the following and press enter:
   ping www.google.com
3. wait for a line or two to come up saying that some bytes have moved,
4. Press Control + C to stop the pinging
5. Now type in the following and press enter:
   ping 8.8.8.8
6. Wait for a line or two to come up saying that some bytes have moved
7. Press Control + C to stop the pinging
8. Now type in the following and press enter:
   traceroute 8.8.8.8
9. And finally, type in the following and press enter:
   /sbin/ifconfig
10. In a message to the ITS technician, include the following:
    • Your physical location while collecting this information
    • The date and time
    • The information your Terminal application produced (just copy and paste everything in the Terminal window)