Which Wireless Diagnostics window should you use to see a live view of current Wi-Fi signal strength, quality, and rate?

The Performance window within the macOS Wireless Diagnostics utility is specifically designed to display real-time, graphical data about the Wi-Fi network connection. It presents three live graphs: Transmit Rate (in Mbps), Quality (based on the signal-to-noise ratio), and Signal (a combination of Received Signal Strength Indicator [RSSI] and noise). This directly provides the live view of signal strength, quality, and rate as requested by the question. To access it, you open Wireless Diagnostics and select Window > Performance from the menu bar.

A. Logs: This function is used to collect and save detailed diagnostic logs for in-depth, offline analysis by technical support, not for live performance monitoring.
B. Diagnostics: This refers to the initial wizard that runs when the application is launched. It performs a one-time check and generates a report, rather than providing a continuous live view.
D. Monitor: The Monitor window displays basic, static information about the current Wi-Fi connection, such as SSID, BSSID, and channel, but lacks the live performance graphs.

1. Apple Inc. (2023). Use Wireless Diagnostics on your Mac. Apple Support, Article HT202663. Retrieved from https://support.apple.com/en-us/102392.

Reference Point: Under the section "Wireless Diagnostics tools," the article explicitly states: "Performance. Shows three graphs with live data about the performance of your Wi-Fi network connection: Rate shows the transmission rate in megabits per second. Quality shows the signal-to-noise ratio. Signal shows the combination of signal strength (RSSI) and noise." This directly confirms the function of the Performance window.

2. Apple Inc. (2024). Apple Platform Deployment. Apple Support.

Reference Point: In the "Wi-Fi roaming support for Mac" section, while discussing troubleshooting, the use of Wireless Diagnostics is mentioned. The Performance window is the specific tool within this utility used to "analyze signal strength and noise over time," which aligns with monitoring live signal quality.