Problem is the behavior of the lights are card-specific. While the lights on many models show activity, some just show link status. If you down the interface, some will change the status of the light, others will not (they just indicate passively that you have voltage on the connection). Sometimes it's hard to see when there is activity because the light blinks so fast.
So the idea is to get a model of NIC that guarantees this functionality of its light indicator; and, as previously suggested, just leave a ping running, which could be done from the Tools menu if you are GUI inclined...
Problem is the behavior of the lights are card-specific. While the lights on many models show activity, some just show link status. If you down the interface, some will change the status of the light, others will not (they just indicate passively that you have voltage on the connection). Sometimes it's hard to see when there is activity because the light blinks so fast.
So the idea is to get a model of NIC that guarantees this functionality of its light indicator; and, as previously suggested, just leave a ping running, which could be done from the Tools menu if you are GUI inclined...
