Help adding connections

Hey guys I am syncing my full node on Bitcoin Core on Mac.

Of course it takes a long time, which is expected. I'm about 50% of the way through after about 2 weeks.

However when I go to the information tab I see I only have 2 connections... I was under the impression I would get 8. I assume this is part of the reason this is taking so long.

I tried "addnode" and "addconnection" but neither seem to work.

What am I doing wrong, and what can I do to get to at least 8 connections?

OR, would more connections even help?

Thanks!