Rae.Noted Help

Quick Start Guide

Rae.Noted shows every Wi-Fi network your Mac can hear, how strong it is, and which channels are crowded, so you can move your router somewhere quieter.

Requirements

macOS 26 or later.

Your First Scan

1. Install Rae.Noted and open it.
2. Click Grant Access, then Allow. macOS hides Wi-Fi network names and BSSIDs from apps without Location access.
3. Read the table. Click a column header to sort.
4. Open the Channels tab to see which networks overlap yours.
5. Change the channel in your router's settings, then check the graph again.

Rae.Noted can't change your router's channel. It shows you which channel is quieter.

Install, Update and Uninstall

Download

Download the latest version from GitHub Releases

Homebrew

Update

The app doesn't check for updates itself. With Homebrew, run:

Otherwise download the latest version.

Uninstall

With Homebrew, run:

Otherwise drag the app to the Trash.

macOS keeps Rae.Noted's entry in System Settings, Privacy & Security, Location Services until you remove it there.

App Overview

Band Filter (All · 2.4 · 5 · 6)

Shows only networks on one Wi-Fi band, or all of them. The Channels graph follows this choice.

Appearance Switch

The three buttons right of the search box: follow macOS (half circle), always light (sun) or always dark (moon). Same setting as in Settings.

Search Box

Filters the table by network name, vendor, BSSID, security type or channel number. A number of up to three digits matches that channel exactly; longer numbers search names and BSSIDs. BSSIDs can be typed with colons, dashes, dots or no separators (aa:bb:cc, aa-bb-cc or aabbcc). Press ⌘F to jump to it and Esc to clear it.

Menus

Edit has Find (⌘F). View has Pause Scanning (⌥⌘P), Scan Now (⌘R), the band filter (⌘1 to ⌘4) and the tabs below the table (⌥⌘1 to ⌥⌘4). While paused, a note above the table says so.

Status Banner

Appears above the table when a scan fails, with the reason in plain language. Rae.Noted keeps retrying and shows the last good results meanwhile.

Welcome and What's New

Welcome introduces the app on its first launch. What's New lists the changes on the next launch and once after each update; tick Skip release notes on future updates to stop it. Reopen either one from the Help menu.

Network Table

Network Table

Every network Rae.Noted can hear, refreshed with each scan. Click a column header to sort. Select one or more rows to focus the charts below on them. Right-click or press ⌘C to copy rows.

Bold Row

The access point your Mac is connected to right now.

Faded Row

A network that didn't show up in the last couple of scans, usually because it's out of range or turned off. Its signal bar turns gray. It returns to normal if it's heard again, and is removed after about a minute of silence.

Table Columns

Color Dot

A color unique to each access point. The same color marks it in the Channels, Signal and Network Details charts.

SSID

The network name you see when joining Wi-Fi. "Hidden" means the network doesn't broadcast its name.

BSSID

The hardware address of one access point radio. One SSID often has several BSSIDs: one per band and one per access point in a mesh.

Vendor

The maker of the access point, looked up from the first part of the BSSID. "(virtual)" means the router made up the address for an extra network such as a guest network; "Private" means the maker can't be identified.

Signal

How strongly your Mac hears the network, as a percentage and a bar. −100 dBm is 0% and −35 dBm or stronger is 100%. The bar is green above 50%, orange at 50% and below, and gray when the network hasn't been heard recently. Hover over it to see the value in dBm.

Noise

Background radio energy on the channel, in dBm. Lower (more negative) is quieter and better. macOS reports noise only for the network you're connected to, so other rows show —.

SNR

Signal-to-noise ratio: how far the signal rises above the noise, in dB. Above 25 dB is good, above 40 dB is excellent, below 15 dB is unreliable.

Channel

The primary channel the network uses. Networks on the same or overlapping channels compete for airtime.

Band

The frequency range: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz or 6 GHz. See the glossary for how they differ.

Width

How much spectrum the network uses: 20, 40, 80, 160 or 320 MHz. Wider is faster but overlaps more neighbors. When macOS reports no width or a narrower one than the beacon advertises, Rae.Noted uses the beacon's. — means neither said. macOS hides some Wi-Fi 7 beacon details, so a 320 MHz network can show as 160 MHz.

Security

How the network protects logins and traffic, such as WPA2, WPA3, Enhanced Open or Open. A network that supports several shows them all, separated by slashes. See the glossary for each type.

Mode

The Wi-Fi standards the network supports, shortened from 802.11: for example a/n/ac/ax. Sorting puts the newest standard first.

Channels

Channels Tab

Draws each network as a hump: its width is the channel width it uses and its height is its signal strength. Humps that overlap share airtime and slow each other down. A 40 MHz network in 2.4 GHz leans toward its second channel when the beacon says which side it's on. Click a hump to select that network. The colored strip along the top names each block of the band (ISM for 2.4 GHz, UNII-1 to UNII-8 for 5 and 6 GHz), with dashed lines where the blocks meet.

Picking a Better Channel

Look for the channel with the fewest and weakest humps on the band you use. In 2.4 GHz, only channels 1, 6 and 11 don't overlap. Change the channel in your router's settings, then check the graph again.

Signal

Signal Tab

Signal strength over time. The selected networks (or the one you're connected to when nothing is selected) are drawn bold and named. The strongest other networks are drawn faintly behind them for comparison: choose how many with Others, and hide nameless networks with Hide hidden networks. Click any line to select that network. Choose a 1, 5 or 10 minute window.

Network and Advanced Details

Network Details Tab

Everything about one network at a glance, plus three charts: its signal over time, every access point broadcasting the same name, and every network whose channels overlap its own (neighbours that only touch its edge aren't counted). The selected network is drawn in its color; the others are gray.

Advanced Details Tab

Every information element in the network's beacon, decoded into plain text. Useful for checking exactly what an access point advertises. Type in the Filter box to narrow the list.

Menu Bar

Menu Bar Item

Shows the signal strength (in dBm) of the access point you're connected to. Click it for the network name, BSSID, noise, SNR, channel and transmit rate. It refreshes every 10 seconds and whenever you open it. Turn it off in Settings.

Copy and Export

Export (⇧⌘E)

Saves the networks currently shown in the table, in the order shown, as a CSV file for spreadsheets. Signal is exported in dBm. A name starting with = + - or @ gets a leading apostrophe, so spreadsheets don't run it as a formula.

Files are named Rae.Noted-YYYY-MM-DD-HHMM.csv. To copy instead, select one or more rows and press ⌘CCommand C, or right-click for Copy SSID, Copy BSSID or Copy Row.

Settings

Open with ⌘,Command comma.

Keyboard Shortcuts

File

Edit

Esc clears the search while the search box is active.

View: Scanning

View: Bands

View: Tabs

App and Help

The Help menu shows Help as ⇧⌘/Shift Command slash, the same keys.

Dialogs

Not Bound to Any Key: Menu Only

• About Rae.Noted (Rae.Noted menu)
• Welcome to Rae.Noted (Help menu)
• What's New in Rae.Noted (Help menu)
• Copy SSID, Copy BSSID, Copy Row (right-click a row)

Printable quick reference →

Location and Privacy

Location Access

macOS hides Wi-Fi network names and BSSIDs from apps without Location access, so Rae.Noted asks for it. Rae.Noted never uses your location and nothing leaves your Mac.

Rae.Noted never sends anything anywhere. It has no network code, no analytics, no crash reporting and no update checks. Scan results stay in memory while the app runs and are written to disk only when you export a CSV.

macOS treats nearby Wi-Fi names and BSSIDs as location data, which is why the app asks for Location access. It never asks for or reads your actual location.

Read the full privacy policy

Troubleshooting

"Allow Location Access"

Click Grant Access, then Allow.

"Location Access Is Off"

Click Open System Settings, then turn on Rae.Noted under Location Services.

"Network Details Unavailable"

Location access is on, but macOS is still hiding network names and BSSIDs. Click Open System Settings, then turn Rae.Noted off and back on under Location Services.

"Wi-Fi is off"

Turn Wi-Fi on. Scanning continues by itself.

"Scanning is paused"

Choose View, Resume Scanning, or press ⌥⌘POption Command P.

"Another app is scanning Wi-Fi. Retrying…"

Another app is using the Wi-Fi radio. Rae.Noted keeps retrying and shows the last good results meanwhile. Quit the other app if the message stays.

"The Wi-Fi scan timed out. Retrying…" and "macOS didn't allow the Wi-Fi scan. Retrying…"

Rae.Noted keeps retrying and shows the last good results meanwhile. If it doesn't clear, contact support.

"Couldn't refresh. Showing results from [time]."

The latest scan failed, so the table shows the last good results. Rae.Noted keeps retrying.

The table stopped updating

Scanning runs only while the main window is open and not minimized, and the app isn't hidden. Check that scanning isn't paused.

I don't see any 6 GHz networks

Rae.Noted shows what your Mac's Wi-Fi hardware can hear. 6 GHz needs a Mac with Wi-Fi 6E or newer and a 6 GHz network in range.

Noise shows — for most networks

macOS reports noise only for the network you're connected to.

A 320 MHz network shows as 160 MHz

macOS hides some Wi-Fi 7 beacon details.

A network turned gray

It wasn't heard in the last couple of scans. It returns if it's heard again and is removed after about a minute of silence.

The menu bar item is missing

Open Settings and turn on Show in menu bar.

Still stuck? Contact support.

Glossary of Terms

2.4 GHz Band

Longest range and best through walls, but crowded: only channels 1, 6 and 11 don't overlap, and microwaves and Bluetooth add interference.

5 GHz Band

Many more channels and faster speeds than 2.4 GHz, with shorter range. Some channels are DFS channels shared with radar.

6 GHz Band

The newest band (Wi-Fi 6E and 7): wide, clean channels with no older devices slowing it down, but the shortest range.

802.11 / Wi-Fi Standards

The Wi-Fi standards by generation: b and a (1999), g (2003), n = Wi-Fi 4, ac = Wi-Fi 5, ax = Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, be = Wi-Fi 7. Newer standards are faster and handle crowds better.

802.11k / v / r

Roaming helpers. k (Neighbor Report) tells devices about nearby access points, v (BSS Transition) lets the network suggest a better one, and r (Fast Transition) makes the switch quicker.

Access Point (AP)

The device that broadcasts a Wi-Fi network: your router, or each unit in a mesh system.

Adjacent-Channel Interference

Networks on partly overlapping channels talk over each other instead of taking turns, which is worse than sharing a channel. Common in 2.4 GHz outside channels 1, 6 and 11.

AKM (Key Management)

How a device proves it may join, listed under AKM Suite(s) in Advanced Details: PSK and SAE use a shared password, 802.1X uses a sign-in server, FT versions roam faster, and FILS and PASN speed up or protect the first connection.

Beacon

A short announcement every access point broadcasts about ten times a second, listing its name, capabilities and security. Scanners read these to learn about networks.

Beacon Interval / TU

How often beacons are sent, in time units (TU). One TU is 1.024 ms, so the usual 100 TU is about a tenth of a second.

Bonded Channels

Neighboring 20 MHz channels joined together to make a 40, 80, 160 or 320 MHz wide channel. Network Details lists every channel a network occupies.

BSS Color

A Wi-Fi 6 tag that helps devices tell their own network's traffic from a neighbor's on the same channel, so they wait less.

CCMP / GCMP

The encryption ciphers that protect Wi-Fi traffic. CCMP-128 is standard for WPA2; GCMP-256 is a stronger option in WPA3. TKIP is an old, weak cipher.

Co-Channel Interference

Networks on the same channel take turns talking, so each gets less airtime. Spreading access points across channels helps.

Country Code

The country an access point says it's configured for, which sets the channels and transmit power it may use.

dBm

Decibels relative to one milliwatt, the unit for signal and noise. Wi-Fi values are negative; closer to zero is stronger. Every 3 dB is double or half the power, so −60 dBm is far stronger than −70 dBm.

DFS

Dynamic Frequency Selection. Access points on these 5 GHz channels must watch for radar and move off the channel if they detect it, which briefly drops connections.

DTIM

Delivery Traffic Indication Message: tells sleeping devices when to wake for queued broadcast traffic. A DTIM period of 3 means every third beacon.

Enhanced Open (OWE)

Encrypts traffic on networks without a password, so nearby people can't read it. Enhanced Open is the Wi-Fi Alliance name; OWE (Opportunistic Wireless Encryption) is the method underneath.

Enterprise (802.1X)

Each person signs in with their own username and password or certificate, checked by a server. Used by businesses and schools.

Hidden Network

A network that leaves its name out of its broadcasts. It's still visible to scanners like Rae.Noted; hiding the name doesn't make a network more secure.

Information Element (IE)

One labeled piece of a beacon, such as the network name, supported rates or security settings. Advanced Details lists them all.

Locally Administered Address

A hardware address the device made up rather than one assigned by its maker. Routers use these for extra networks (guest, IoT), shown as "(virtual)" in the Vendor column.

Max Rate

The fastest link speed a network advertises, from its newest standard, width and spatial streams. Real-world throughput is usually around half of this or less.

MCS

Modulation and Coding Scheme: how densely data is packed into the signal. Strong, clean signals allow higher MCS and faster speeds.

Mesh Network

Several access points working together under one network name, so devices can roam between them. Each unit shows up as its own BSSID.

Noise Floor

The level of background radio energy on a channel. A quiet noise floor (around −90 dBm or lower) lets weaker signals still get through.

Open Network

No password and no encryption: anyone nearby can read the traffic. Use a VPN on open networks.

OUI

Organizationally Unique Identifier: the first part of a hardware address, registered by the maker with the IEEE. Rae.Noted uses it to name the vendor.

PMF (Protected Management Frames)

Protects control messages so attackers can't knock devices off the network with fake disconnect messages. Required by WPA3.

Primary Channel

The 20 MHz channel where a network sends its beacons and control traffic. Wide networks add more channels around it; Network Details underlines the primary one.

PSK

Pre-Shared Key: everyone joins with the same password. Used by WPA and WPA2 Personal.

Roaming

A device switching from one access point to another with the same network name as you move around.

RSSI

Received Signal Strength Indicator: the signal strength your Mac measures for a network, in dBm. The Signal column shows it as a percentage. Roughly: −30 to −60 is good, −61 to −75 is fair, below −75 is poor.

SAE

Simultaneous Authentication of Equals: WPA3 Personal's password handshake, which resists password guessing.

Secondary Channel

The second 20 MHz channel a 40 MHz network adds, just above or below its primary channel. In 2.4 GHz it overlaps several neighbors, which is why 40 MHz is rarely a good idea there.

Spatial Streams (MIMO)

Separate data streams sent at once over multiple antennas. Each extra stream adds roughly the same speed again. Most phones and laptops use two.

Stale Network

A network that wasn't heard in the last couple of scans. Rae.Noted fades it and grays its signal bar, then removes it after about a minute.

Transmit Power

How loudly an access point broadcasts, in dBm. Turning it up isn't always better: your device also has to be heard back.

Tx Rate

The speed your Mac is currently using to send to the access point, shown in the menu bar dropdown. It rises and falls with signal quality.

UNII Sub-Band

Named slices of the 5 and 6 GHz bands (UNII-1 to UNII-8) with their own rules. In 5 GHz, UNII-2A and UNII-2C are the DFS channels.

WEP

The original, long-broken Wi-Fi security. It can be cracked in minutes; replace any WEP network.

WPA / WPA2

Wi-Fi Protected Access. WPA2 with a strong password is still common and reasonably safe; the original WPA is outdated.

WPA3

The current Wi-Fi security standard. It protects weak passwords from offline guessing and requires Protected Management Frames.

WPA3 Compatibility

A newer way to serve both: older devices see a WPA2 network, while newer ones are offered WPA3 in a separate part of the beacon. macOS shows these as WPA2; Rae.Noted reads the beacon to tell them apart.

WPA3 Transition

A mode that accepts both WPA2 and WPA3 devices on the same network, so older devices can still join.

What's New

Version 27.1.12

WPA3 Compatibility Mode

Networks that offer WPA3 to new devices and WPA2 to older ones now show as WPA3 Compatibility instead of plain WPA2.

Correct 160 MHz Widths

160 MHz networks that announce their width the newer way no longer show as 80 MHz.

Enhanced Open

Networks without a password that still encrypt traffic now use their official name, Enhanced Open. Searching "OWE" still finds them.

Smarter Search

Type a BSSID with colons, dashes, dots or no separators. Pasted text with a line break at the end now matches too.

Truer 2.4 GHz Graph

A 40 MHz network now leans toward its second channel, matching the channels Network Details lists.

Clearer Security Details

Newer sign-in types such as FILS, PASN and PSK-SHA384 show by name in Advanced Details instead of as codes.

New Menu Commands

Find, Pause Scanning, Scan Now, the band filter and the tabs are all in the menus now, with keyboard shortcuts.

Refreshed Help

Help explains the new search options, widths and security types, plus a few new glossary terms.

Release Notes

Version 27.1.12

Fixes Grant Access doing nothing on some Macs.

Every version on GitHub Releases →