Frequently asked questions
Is WiFi Lens free?
WiFi Lens Pro is the complete Mac app and is available as a one-time purchase through the Mac App Store. An open-source edition is also available for free on GitHub with a substantial set of live analysis tools. Pro extends WiFi Lens into menu bar monitoring, Timeline event history, Statistics, and Insights.
What's the difference between Pro and OSS?
The open-source edition includes a substantial set of live analysis tools, including spectrum scanning, network tables, channel scoring, roaming tests, connection diagnostics, Network Self-Check, and MCP AI integration. WiFi Lens Pro includes those capabilities and extends the workflow with menu bar monitoring, Timeline event history, Statistics, and Insights.
Is my data uploaded to the cloud?
Absolutely not. WiFi Lens has no backend servers whatsoever. All data is processed locally on your Mac. Even the MCP AI integration only communicates through your machine's local interface — nothing is sent to any remote server. To be crystal clear: we don't collect anything.
What macOS version do I need?
WiFi Lens requires macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. It supports both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. A quick note: 6 GHz band scanning requires your Mac hardware to support Wi‑Fi 6E or Wi‑Fi 7 (available on newer Apple Silicon models). Older Intel Macs or non-6E models can still use all 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz features without limitation.
Why don't some 6 GHz networks show a 6 GHz label?
This is a macOS system-level limitation. The wireless scanning APIs macOS provides to apps don't always explicitly flag a network as belonging to the 6 GHz band. For Wi‑Fi 6E networks, the system typically encodes band information through the channel number or center frequency rather than returning a "6 GHz" label directly. As a result, some 6 GHz networks may appear as 5 GHz or without a specific band label in scan results. This is system behavior, not a bug — it doesn't mean the device isn't using a 6 GHz network.
Does it work on Windows or Linux?
WiFi Lens is a macOS-native app and does not support Windows or Linux. It relies on macOS's CoreWLAN framework to read Wi‑Fi data, and there is no equivalent framework on other operating systems.
Why does it ask for location permission?
This isn't our requirement — it's a macOS policy. Apple mandates that any app capable of reading Wi‑Fi network names (SSIDs) must obtain location permission. WiFi Lens never accesses your GPS coordinates and never records your location.