Wi-Fi and Speedtest via Apple Shortcuts

First, all the credit for this goes to Adrian Granados (Intuitibits) and Timo Sass for creating and expanding these shortcut scripts. I wanted to capture the links for easier searching/installation in the future.

With the release of iOS 17, Apple now supports more details around Wi-Fi performance testing via an API call that can be leveraged through a Shortcut.

Adrian released an initial version for Wi-Fi testing, available here. Sample output from the Shortcut is shown below. Adrian also provides a shortcut to test cellular performance:

To install Adrian’s shortcut:

1. Navigate to the Inuitibits Shortcut GitHub page.
2. Click on “My Wi-Fi.shortcut”
3. Click on the “Download raw file” button in the upper right.
4. Launch the “My Wi-Fi” shortcut to run this script and display Wi-Fi performance details.
5. Optionally, repeat this process to install “My Cellular.shortcut”

Timo Sass expanded on Adrian’s shortcut to include a speed test result as well.  The speed test takes about 60 seconds to run but shows WLAN practitioners the difference between measured throughput and capable data rates. Knowing this gives trouble-shooters insight into whether performance slowdowns are related to Wi-Fi or a bottleneck in the wired network.

To install Timo’s shortcut expansion (includes speed test):

1. Download Adrian’s modified shortcut with Timo’s speed test enhancement.
2. Install a-Shell from the Appstore
3. Launch a-Shell and enter the following command to install the Ookla speed test library:
   • pip install speedtest-cli
4. Launch the “My Wi-Fi + Speedtest” shortcut to run this script and display Wi-Fi performance + speed test details.

Of note, I seem to need to run the “pip install speedtest-cli” in a-Shell again every day before using the shortcut; otherwise, I receive an error about converting text to data.

Once again, thank you to everyone who has been putting together Shortcuts to show off this new feature in iOS17.

Slàinte!

Resources

Adrian’s (Intuitibits) Shortcut Github page

https://github.com/intuitibits/shortcuts

Timo Sass Wi-Fi + Speedtest Shortcut Install

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/528436dd851847458cfd79e46c04c0a2

Timo’s Instructions to install and use Shortcut

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/wi-fi-speedtest-one-apple-shortcuts-timo-sass%3FtrackingId=7y077fNlTzWDanQ9TaCRCw%253D%253D/?trackingId=7y077fNlTzWDanQ9TaCRCw%3D%3D

a-Shell app install

https://apps.apple.com/de/app/a-shell/id1473805438

How to add apple shortcut to the Home Screen on iPhone or iPad

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/shortcuts/apd735880972/ios