Long gone are the days of printing a document, marking it up with a red pencil, and sending it back to the author to input the changes. In the modern world, we use comments and change tracking to collaborate in word processors like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Apple’s Pages, and Nisus Writer Pro. The specifics vary a little by app, but in essence, once you turn on change tracking, every change you make becomes visible to others working on the document, and they can accept or reject the change. Changes and comments can also host brief discussion threads.

In this article, we’re going to recommend general ways of working with change tracking and comments, rather than exploring the particular interfaces in different apps. This advice should work well for all apps that support change tracking and comments.

Establish a Working Approach

There are two typical scenarios when working with others on a document. Either you’re collaborating with colleagues to create the best possible final document, or you’re negotiating over every change, as might be the case when constructing a legal agreement where people have conflicting goals and agendas. We’ll focus on the former since everything gets tense when multiple people have to sign off on every change. If you end up in an editing scenario that’s essentially an arms-length negotiation, you’ll probably make fewer changes and examine each one closely.

Assign Roles

Talk with your fellow collaborators to clarify who will be doing what. Depending on your workflow, a document will have people in two or three roles:

• Author: The author drafts the document without change tracking enabled. Subsequently, the author accepts changes made by the editor and contributors.
• Editor: The editor enhances the author’s text with change tracking enabled and accepts the author’s subsequent changes. (An editor isn’t necessary as long as everyone else doesn’t mind the author accepting their own changes later.)
• Contributor: Everyone else is a contributor, and they only make changes in change tracking mode. They neither accept nor reject changes.

These roles make it clear who can and should do what. Otherwise, you end up in a situation where people are hesitant to accept changes or where someone accepts changes before the author has seen them.

Even with these roles, the order in which the document gets reviewed can matter if you want certain contributors to see what’s changed, even if they don’t accept the changes. Generally speaking, people take turns with documents, with communication via email or some other channel to let others know when they can dive in.

Some documents may need only one editing pass, whereas others will require several. You’ll know you’re done when all changes have been accepted and comments have been resolved.

Decide Which Changes to Show

When you enable change tracking, every change will be tracked. That can be counterproductive if the number of changes becomes overwhelming—to either people or the software. You may wish to make certain changes without change tracking enabled or accept them before the next person’s turn. For instance:

• Formatting changes: If you’re changing styles or putting text into lists to make a draft more presentable or professional, those changes can quickly clutter the document and are usually not controversial.
• Consistency changes: For ensuring consistent usage, such as one space after a period, a search-and-replace with change tracking disabled lets the next person avoid dealing with hundreds of small changes. You can leave a comment at the top of the document noting what you did.
• Minor proofreading changes: Everyone makes typos. You may wish to keep typo fixes visible to show how much your editing has improved the document, or you can accept them right away to save the next person time.
• Too many changes to parse: At times, you may edit a paragraph so heavily that it has been almost entirely rewritten. As with proofreading changes, you might want to keep those changes visible to indicate how much you’ve done, or you might want to accept them all and leave a comment saying, “Read this paragraph carefully—too many changes to show with change tracking.”

Accept (Don’t Reject) Changes

When it comes time to review changes, apps let you either accept or reject changes. We usually recommend accepting changes even if you disagree with them. That’s not to say you have to stick with a proposed change that you dislike, but the person who made it did so for a reason, and it’s up to you to figure out what that reason is and recast the text to accommodate it, preferably with an explanatory comment. That way, they’ll see your change on their next pass and can decide if you addressed their concern.

Occasionally, someone might negatively change some carefully worded text because they didn’t realize why it was worded that way. Rather than rejecting such a change, leave it and start a discussion. In all likelihood, they’ll withdraw the change on the next pass, or you can reject it once they see where you’re coming from.

When accepting changes, you can employ several techniques:

• Few changes: If there aren’t that many changes, it’s easy to accept them one at a time. As you do this, watch for mistakes that creep in—missing or double spaces, verb tense and number mismatches, and so on. These can be easy to introduce and difficult to see while editing.
• Many changes: When the entire document seems to have changed color because there are so many changes, it’s easier in most apps (other than Google Docs) to select a paragraph at a time, accept all changes in the selection, and then read it closely to make sure the changes are both helpful and don’t introduce additional mistakes. A keyboard shortcut to an Accept Selected Changes command can make this process faster.
  

We don’t recommend using the Accept All feature to accept all the changes in the document unless it’s quite short and you plan to read the entire thing carefully again.

Dealing with Comments

Finally, some comments about comments. In most apps, you can add a comment to a change and start a threaded discussion about the change. That’s extremely helpful if you want to explain why you made the change. However, that approach works poorly if the next person wants to accept your change and continue chatting in the comment, since accepting the change will close the comment thread. As such, we recommend restricting change-specific comments to non-controversial situations where you’re merely informing the next person about why you made ​the change.

When you need to ask a question or raise a topic for discussion, do that in a standalone comment instead, so the discussion doesn’t disappear with the accepted change. Even in this situation, however, you have to be careful. If you select a particular word and start a discussion asking if it’s the right word to use, the next person may not be able to change that word without deleting the comment thread. One solution is to select a few words before the text on which you’re commenting, or just the period ending the sentence, so changes can be made while retaining the comment. Another approach is to select more text—the entire sentence or paragraph that contains the text in question—for the comment. That’s more effective, but too many such comments will overwhelm the document with large colored comment blocks.

Who should resolve comment threads? Although some comments are purely informational and can be resolved by the person to whom they’re addressed, it’s usually best if the person who started the comment thread resolves it. Let’s say the editor leaves a comment that asks a question. The author responds, so the editor needs to see that response. If it doesn’t fully answer the initial question, the editor can ask for more information, and the author can provide it. The editor can then resolve the comment to indicate that the final comment from the author closed the topic.

One last point. Comment threads within a document are useful but limited. If a topic needs significant discussion, break it out to email, Slack, or even a meeting rather than going back and forth within a single comment at length.

We hope this advice makes your collaborative editing faster, easier, and more companionable—remember, the goal should always be to improve the document. However, there’s room for tweaking within these general guidelines to create the ideal workflow for your group.

(Featured image by iStock.com/FrankieMea)

For years now, Apple has made transparency a part of the macOS interface, which has the effect of blending the menu bar into the background and making menus and some windows take on the background hue, as you can see on the left side of the illustration below. For many people, transparency blurs the interface, making it harder to differentiate interface elements from the wallpaper. It also causes problems for screenshots meant for publication because the images end up with unrepresentative color levels. To prevent that from happening, open System Preferences > Accessibility > Display and select Reduce Transparency. It can be a significant difference, as you can see on the right side of the illustration below.

(Featured image by Adam Engst)

Whether you have guests who want to get on your home Wi-Fi network, customers who need to join your business network, or attendees who want to use your conference network, it’s always fussy to share the network name and password. If an iPhone user has your Apple ID email address in Contacts, their device should automatically prompt you to share your Wi-Fi password, but that won’t work in many situations.

Here’s another option: a QR (Quick Response, if you’re curious) code that, once scanned, lets the person join your network without knowing its name or password. Once you’ve created this QR code, you can print it on a card to share, post it on a bulletin board, or make a custom sign. QR codes are no longer the curiosity they once were, with usage skyrocketing since the pandemic. One estimate suggests that over 83 million US adult smartphone users will scan a QR code in 2022.

Follow these steps to create your custom Wi-Fi network QR code:

1. Visit QRCode Monkey and click the WIFI tab at the top. (Other sites, like QR Code Generator and Flowcode, will also work but may require a paid account.)
   
2. Enter the name of your network—also known as the SSID—in the Wireless SSID field.
   
3. If your network has a password, enter it in the Password field, click Encryption, and choose WPA/WPA2. (If  your network still relies on the old and completely insecure WEP, choose that instead—and plan to upgrade to a new base station with WPA support soon!)
4. If you’re sharing access to a guest network that has no password, leave the password field blank and Encryption set to No Encryption.
5. To change your QR code’s foreground and background colors from black and white, click Set Colors, click a color square, and click on the desired color in the color picker. (You can also enter color hex values.) If you plan to upload a logo, make sure the color works well with your logo.
   
6. If you have a logo that you want to include, click Add Logo Image and upload your logo. You may want to resize the white space around the logo to position the logo nicely in the middle of the QR code. If the logo’s background doesn’t match your background color, you may wish to select Remove Background Behind Logo.
   
7. For a snazzier look, click Customize Design and choose among the various options for Body Shape (the overall pattern), Eye Frame Shape (the corner frames), and Eye Ball Shape (the shape inside the corner frames).
   
8. Click the Create QR Code button on the right to preview your custom design. Repeat Steps 5 through 8 until the QR code looks the way you want.
   
9. Adjust the Quality slider if desired—the default of 1000-by-1000 pixels is generally fine.
10. Click the Download PNG button to get the actual file. You can also click the SVG, PDF, or EPS buttons to download those less common formats.

That’s it! Once you’ve downloaded the QR code image file to your Mac, you can print it on its own, add it to other print designs, or even put it on your website. There’s probably a size that is too small for cameras to resolve accurately, but that’s easy to test using your iPhone or iPad.

From then on, anyone can access your Wi-Fi network by pointing the camera app on their phone at your QR code—they’ll be grateful for the easy access, and you’ll no longer have to supply them with the network information. It’s a win-win!

(Featured image by Adam Engst)

At its March 8th Peek Performance event, Apple freshened its iPhone and iPad product lines with a new third-generation iPhone SE and fifth-generation iPad Air, along with new green hues for the iPhone 13 line. Then Apple focused on the big announcements of the day: the entirely new Mac Studio, powered by the insanely fast M1 Ultra chip and accompanied by the stunning 27-inch Studio Display.

Mac Studio with M1 Ultra and Studio Display Redefine the Mac Lineup

In 2020, Apple started to transition Macs away from Intel processors to Apple silicon, beginning with the M1 system-on-a-chip and a year later adding the even more powerful M1 Pro and M1 Max to the family. The performance of those chips, particularly when measured against their low power requirements, was stellar. Apple has now unveiled the M1 Ultra, which bonds two M1 Max chips together for double the performance.

To hold the M1 Ultra—or a less expensive M1 Max—Apple introduced an entirely new Mac that looks like an inflated Mac mini. The Mac Studio has the same 7.7-inch (19.7 cm) square outline, but is more than twice as tall, clocking in at 3.7 inches (9.5 cm) high. Much of that vertical space is occupied by cooling fans, but Apple says the Mac Studio makes minimal noise.

The Mac Studio also expands the Mac mini’s price, with the M1 Max model starting at $1999 and the M1 Ultra model at $3999. You can kit a Mac Studio out with an impressive set of options:

• Chip: For $1999, the M1 Max model offers 10 CPU cores, either 24 or 32 (add $200) GPU cores, and 16 Neural Engine cores. The $3999 M1 Ultra model doubles those numbers with 20 CPU cores, 48 or 64 ($1000) GPU cores, and 32 Neural Engine cores.
• Memory: With the M1 Max, you can choose between 32 GB or 64 GB ($400) of unified memory. With an M1 Ultra, you can opt for either 64 GB or 128 GB ($800) of unified memory.
• Storage: Internal SSD storage starts at 512 GB, with options of 1 TB ($200), 2 TB ($600), 4 TB ($1200), and 8 TB ($2400).

Because of Apple’s focus on creative professionals, the Mac Studio offers a solid set of ports. On the back, it has four Thunderbolt 4 ports, a 10-gigabit Ethernet port, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 is built in, as is Bluetooth 5.0. For ease of access, Apple finally put ports on the front, too. The M1 Max model features two USB-C ports, whereas the M1 Ultra model offers two Thunderbolt 4 ports. Both provide an SDXC card slot.

To address the Mac Studio’s lack of a screen, Apple introduced the $1599 Studio Display. It’s a 27-inch 5K Retina display with a native resolution of 5120-by-2800, P3 wide color, and True Tone technology. Nano-texture glass is a $300 option if you need less reflectivity. There are three stand options: a 30º tilt default, a VESA mount adapter, or a tilt- and height-adjustable stand for $400 more. Note that you can’t swap one for another later. The Studio Display offers one Thunderbolt 3 port to connect to a Mac—complete with 96-watt charging—and three USB-C ports for connecting peripherals.

What sets the Studio Display apart from other monitors is that it uses an A13 Bionic chip—the same brains in the iPhone 11—to power a 12-megapixel Ultra Wide camera with Center Stage (Apple’s technology for smoothly keeping you in the frame as you move around on a video call), a three-mic array with directional beamforming, and a high-fidelity six-speaker system. In short, this is the ultimate Mac videoconferencing setup. It even supports spatial audio when playing music or video with Dolby Atmos, and you can use “Hey Siri” with it.

There’s one other fact you need to know before we put all this together: Apple said that the only remaining Mac to transition to Apple silicon is the Mac Pro, which means that it’s dropping the popular 27-inch iMac from the lineup. We’re sad since that iMac was a terrifically good deal, but if you’ve been waiting for an Apple silicon 27-inch iMac, the Studio Display suggests four alternative directions, depending on your needs. Remember that even the entry-level M1 chip outperforms the most recent Intel-based 27-inch iMac.

• Minimize desktop cost: If keeping costs down while sticking with Apple-designed desktop gear is important to you, couple a Mac mini with the Studio Display.
• Maximize desktop performance: Need the maximum performance on your desk? A Mac Studio driving one or more Studio Displays is the ultimate professional setup today.
• Minimize portability cost: Those who need portability and desktop screen real estate can get both without breaking the bank by combining a MacBook Air or 13-inch MacBook Pro and the Studio Display.
• Maximize portability performance: For top-notch portability, performance, and productivity, a 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro is unbeatable when matched with one or even two Studio Displays.

Finally, don’t discount the 24-inch iMac. Although its screen is smaller than the 27-inch iMac’s, its Retina screen resolution isn’t far off, and it’s notably less expensive. If you mostly like the all-in-one nature of the 27-inch iMac and don’t need the performance of the Mac Studio or MacBook Pro, you won’t go wrong with a 24-inch iMac.

Both the Mac Studio and Studio Display are available to order now, with shipments starting on March 18th, although demand is already pushing some ship dates into April. Note that the Mac Studio doesn’t include any input devices, but Apple also introduced a new silver-and-black Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad ($199), Magic Mouse ($99), and Magic Trackpad ($149) designed to complement the Studio Display.

Third-generation iPhone SE Gains A15 Bionic and Better Camera

Not everyone wants—or at least wants to pay for—the latest and greatest. For those looking for a small iPhone at a reasonable price, the new third-generation iPhone SE is still a bargain. Prices start at $429 thanks to its 4.7-inch screen in an iPhone 8 design and Touch ID-enabled Home button. That’s $30 more than the previous generation, but you get the same A15 Bionic chip that’s in the iPhone 13 line and Apple’s promise that iOS will support it for years to come. The new iPhone SE also gains 5G support for faster cellular Internet connectivity, though it doesn’t support the fastest millimeter-wave flavor of 5G.

The A15 Bionic’s processing power enhances the 12-megapixel camera, providing computational photography capabilities like Smart HDR 4, Photographic Styles, Deep Fusion, and Portrait mode. The A15 Bionic’s image signal processor also improves video quality, particularly in low-light situations. Despite the increased performance, Apple says the new iPhone SE features better battery life than the second-generation iPhone SE and all previous 4.7-inch iPhone models. (Generally speaking, the bigger the iPhone, the better the battery life, thanks to additional room inside.)

You can order the new iPhone SE, which comes in midnight (black), starlight (white), and PRODUCT(RED), starting at 8 AM Eastern on March 11th, with delivery starting on March 18th. The 64 GB model costs $429, 128 GB costs $479, and 256 GB is $579.

Fifth-generation iPad Air Moves to M1 and 5G

For many people, the $599 iPad Air is the sweet spot of the iPad line, fitting nicely between the $329 iPad and the $799 11-inch iPad Pro. However, the fourth-generation iPad Air had fallen behind in a few ways, making its price less palatable.

The new fifth-generation iPad Air makes the price compelling again, thanks to the move to the same M1 chip used in the iPad Pro (and many Macs). It boasts up to 60% faster CPU performance than the previous model and twice the graphics performance. Even more noticeable in this age of videoconferencing is the addition of an Ultra Wide front-facing camera with Center Stage. Those who need speedy connectivity on the go will appreciate the new 5G support, though it doesn’t support the fastest millimeter-wave 5G. Apple also doubled the throughput for the iPad Air’s USB-C port, but it remains slower than the Thunderbolt port in the iPad Pro models.

Other key specs remain the same, including the size and industrial design, Touch ID in the top button, support for the second-generation Apple Pencil, rear-facing camera, and battery life.

As with the new iPhone SE, pre-orders for the new iPad Air open at 8 AM Eastern on March 11th, with delivery starting on March 18th. It comes in five new colors: space gray, pink, purple, blue, and starlight (white). $599 gets you 64 GB of storage, whereas 256 GB costs $749. Add another $150 for a cellular-capable model.

(Featured image by Apple)

There’s little more frustrating than running out of space, which always seems to happen at just the wrong time. Luckily, Apple makes it easy to check any time, before it becomes a problem. On the Mac, choose About This Mac from the Apple menu and click Storage. On an iPhone or iPad, navigate to Settings > General > iPhone/iPad Storage. For iCloud, you can look in either System Preferences > Apple ID on the Mac or in Settings > Your Name > iCloud > Manage Storage on an iPhone or iPad. Once you know how much space is consumed by what, you can more easily clear unnecessary data.

(Featured image by iStock.com/alphaspirit)

When it comes to upgrading to a new version of macOS, we err on the side of caution, at least in our recommendations. (We often install even beta releases on secondary machines for testing purposes.) Upgrading is easy, but if you upgrade too soon, the new version of macOS could render favorite apps inoperable, create workflow interruptions, and have other negative consequences. On the other hand, waiting too long can cause problems—it’s important so you can stay in sight of the cutting edge for security reasons and take advantage of Apple’s advances. Upgrading is not an if question; it’s a when question.

That “when” could be now. There’s no reason you must upgrade to macOS 12 Monterey right away, but if you want to, you should now be able to do so without undue interruptions. Monterey has been quite stable and has needed only two updates since its initial release in October 2021. The macOS 12.1 feature release in December 2021 added support for SharePlay, the Apple Music Voice Plan, Memories improvements in Photos, and Legacy Contacts, along with bug fixes and security updates. The macOS 12.2 maintenance release from January 2022 includes only unspecified bug fixes and some security updates. The upcoming macOS 12.3 will add the long-promised Universal Control feature for controlling multiple Macs and iPads from one keyboard and mouse. After that, Monterey should be feature-complete and will likely receive only bug fixes and security updates.

You can continue to delay as long as you’re running macOS 10.15 Catalina or macOS 11 Big Sur and are staying up to date with Apple’s security updates. Earlier versions of macOS no longer receive security fixes, rendering them more vulnerable to attack. Reasons to delay further include:

• • You’re too busy. The upgrade process will take a few hours, and it may take additional time to configure everything properly afterward. When you are ready to upgrade, aim for when a little downtime will be convenient.
  • You’re using incompatible software. The jump from Catalina or Big Sur to Monterey isn’t a big one, so most modern apps should have been updated to ensure compatibility with Monterey by now. But if you’re still running macOS 10.14 Mojave or earlier with 32-bit apps, you’ll lose access to them if you upgrade. (That happened first with Catalina.) With Mojave no longer receiving security updates, you need to find replacements for those apps and upgrade soon.

• You need consistent versions for workflow reasons. We’re unaware of any major issues here, but it’s not inconceivable that a coworker could be stuck on an older version of macOS and thus older versions of shared productivity apps. If your upgrade would force you to update those apps and introduce compatibility issues when collaborating with that coworker, you may have to wait until your coworker can upgrade as well.

Monterey won’t upend your experience of using a Mac, but it has numerous welcome features, both large and small. Apple radically improved FaceTime, introduced the Shortcuts app from iOS, added privacy enhancements like iCloud Private Relay and Hide My Email, enables you to copy text from images with Live Text, provides screen sharing in FaceTime calls, lets you always display the menu bar in full-screen mode, and much more. Perhaps even more important, Monterey shares numerous features with Apple’s other operating systems: iOS 15, iPadOS 15, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15. To take full advantage of those features across all your Apple devices, your Mac must be running Monterey.

Before You Upgrade

Once you’ve decided to upgrade to Monterey, you have three main tasks:

• Update apps: Make sure all your apps are as up-to-date as possible. If you regularly put off updates, now’s the time to let them complete so you have Monterey-compatible versions.
  
• Clear space: Monterey needs about 36 GB of free space to upgrade, and the Monterey installer itself is about 12 GB, so we recommend making sure you have at least 50 GB free. Don’t cut this close—you should always have at least 10–20% free space for virtual memory, cache files, and breathing room.
  
• Make a backup: Never, ever install a major upgrade to macOS without ensuring that you have at least one current backup first. In an ideal world, you’d have an updated Time Machine backup, a bootable duplicate, and an Internet backup. That way, if something goes wrong, you can easily restore.
  

Upgrading

After the above-listed tasks are complete, make sure you don’t need your Mac for a few hours. There’s no telling exactly how long the upgrade will take, so never start an upgrade if you need the Mac soon.

Initiating the upgrade is just a matter of opening System Preferences > Software Update, clicking the Upgrade Now button, and following the instructions. If you’d like more hand-holding, check out Joe Kissell’s ebook Take Control of Monterey.

After You Upgrade

Part of the reason to set aside plenty of time for your Monterey upgrade is that there are usually cleanup tasks afterward. We can’t predict precisely what you’ll run into, depending on what version of macOS you’re running now and what apps you use, but here are a few situations we’ve noticed in the past:

• macOS may need to update its authentication situation by asking for your Apple ID password, your Mac’s password, and if you have another Mac, its password too. Don’t worry that this is a security breach—it’s fine.
• Some apps may have to ask for permission to access your contacts and calendar even though you previously granted permission. Again, that’s fine and won’t happen again.
• If you use your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac and apps (and you should, it’s great!), you may need to re-enable that in System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General.
• If you use Gmail, Google Calendar, or other Google services, you may need to log in to your Google account again.
• Websites that usually remember your login state may require that you log in again. If you’re using a password manager like 1Password, that’s easy.
• You may have to re-enable text message forwarding to your Mac on your iPhone in Settings > Messages > Text Message Forwarding.

With all that housekeeping done, it’s time to check out all the new features in Monterey!

(Featured image by Apple)

Back in iOS 14, Apple added the App Library, which collects all the apps on your iPhone. With everything available in the App Library, iOS 14 was also able to provide the option of hiding Home screen pages, a boon for those of us with too many disorganized pages. In iOS 15, Apple has taken the next step. You can still hide Home screen pages, but if you never want to see them again, you can delete them (apps remain in the App Library). Or, if they’re not in the order you want, you can rearrange them. Touch and hold any empty spot on the Home screen to enter jiggle mode. Tap the dots above the Dock that indicate which Home screen page you’re on. In the Edit Pages screen, you can now tap the – button next to a hidden page to delete it ➊. If you want to delete a visible page, first hide it by tapping its checkmark underneath ➋. Or, to rearrange Home screen pages, drag a thumbnail to a new location ➌. Tap Done or press the Home button when you’re finished.

(Featured image by Adam Engst)

Most of the time, when you unlock your iPhone or iPad, you want to launch an app. In iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, you no longer have to unlock the device, find the app on a Home screen page, and tap it. Instead, you can open an app directly from the Lock screen, assuming Settings > Face/Touch ID & Passcode > Today View and Search is turned on. Just swipe down from the middle of the Lock screen ➊ to access the Search screen, which lists apps from Siri Suggestions ➋. You can tap one of those to open it, or you can use the Search field to find an app by name and tap the search result ➌.

(Featured image by iStock.com/ipopba)

It’s unfortunate that the most recent iteration of the Magic Mouse has its Lightning charging port on the bottom, making it impossible to use while charging, unlike the Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad, which work fine when plugged in. To check if your Magic Mouse needs charging before it starts to nag (and starts acting a little funky), look in one of these spots. If your menu bar is displaying the Bluetooth icon, click it, and the charge level should show up. Or click the Control Center icon on the menu bar and click Bluetooth. You can also look in System Preferences, in either the Bluetooth preference pane or the Mouse preference pane. In our experience, the Bluetooth menu is the easiest, but Control Center and the Mouse preference pane are the most reliable—sometimes the charge level doesn’t appear in the menu.

(Featured image by iStock.com/Alex Sholom)

As pandemic-related restrictions ebb and flow, many people continue to work from home at least some of the time. A key requirement for successful remote work is a fast, solid Internet connection. Unfortunately, it’s all too common for Internet connections to degrade over time as cables endure a variety of insults ranging from water seeping into connectors to squirrels gnawing through insulation. You might be surprised at how variable such problems can be—we once saw an Internet connection that dropped out infrequently; it turned out that squirrels had damaged just one pair of wires in the cable, and the Internet provider’s system hopped between pairs depending on other neighborhood traffic.

How do you know if something in your Internet connection needs fixing? If the entire connection goes offline periodically, even if it comes back on its own, that’s a hint. Videoconferencing apps and streaming video services can also provide useful warnings—if the picture often pixelates or pauses, or if the audio falls out of sync with the video, that’s another indication that something may be wrong. Finally, if you use a VPN, Internet connectivity issues can cause all sorts of weird problems.

When you notice such problems, you can perform a simple test that may shed some light on the situation. First, make sure to stop any audio or video streaming or large downloads. Then go to speedtest.net and click the Go button. Speedtest will run some tests to come up with three numbers:

• Download: Your download performance, generally measured in megabits per second (Mbps), is the most important and determines how quickly your computer can receive data from the Internet for downloads and streaming video.
• Upload: Conversely, your upload performance, also measured in megabits per second, determines how fast you can send data to the Internet. It’s almost always much lower than download performance, but sufficient upload bandwidth is essential for your audio and video to be clear and smooth in a videoconference.
• Latency: This number, which Speedtest calls “ping,” measures the amount of time in milliseconds to send a single packet to the destination server and receive it back again. The lower the latency, the more responsive communications will be, which is all-important for online gaming. Very long latencies can also cause problems for VPNs.

(You can also use other similar services, such as Netflix’s fast.com or Google’s built-in tester. Apple even built a networkQuality tool into macOS 12 Monterey—run it at the command line in Terminal—though it has an unusual Apple Network Responsiveness test that replaces the latency test.)

What should these numbers be? When you signed up for a plan with your Internet service provider (ISP), you should have been quoted download and upload numbers, such as 200 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up. If you don’t know what those numbers should be, ask your ISP. It’s not uncommon for download and upload speeds to vary somewhat from what you were promised, but they should generally be close.

Latency is trickier, and ISPs won’t promise anything specific. The lower the latency number, the better. Speedtest suggests that times under 59 milliseconds are good for gaming, times between 60 and 129 milliseconds are acceptable, a range of 130–199 milliseconds is problematic, and 200-plus milliseconds won’t be usable. There’s no way to know what latency numbers might cause other problems, but we’d pay attention to anything over 100 milliseconds.

Let’s assume your numbers aren’t what they should be—or at least what you’d like them to be. Don’t complain to your ISP right away. Instead, try these steps:

• Run the test a few more times, preferably at different times of the day. (If you create an account with Speedtest, it will track your tests so you can see how they change.) You may discover that performance is slow only during peak usage hours.
• Run more tests using different Speedtest servers or even different testing services. You’re testing the performance between you and a particular server, and it’s possible that server is having problems that others won’t share.
• If you have other devices, run tests from those as well. Don’t assume you’ll get identical results because different devices may have varying capabilities. If you notice differences between devices that use Wi-Fi and those connected via Ethernet, that might point to your Wi-Fi router as a bottleneck. That’s not common with modern Wi-Fi routers, but if you’re still relying on an old AirPort Express, it could be slowing you down.
• Restart your devices, and if that doesn’t make a difference, restart or power cycle your router and modem as well.

If your performance problems persist through all those troubleshooting tests, the problem is likely in the physical connection, and only your ISP can address that. When you call, be sure to share the testing numbers and any commonalities—times of day, for instance—that you observed. With luck, they’ll be able to confirm your issues and dispatch a technician to evaluate the physical connection for problems.

(Featured image by iStock.com/gorodenkoff)