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I often use my laptop in the subway / office buildings where internet connection may be laggy / absent for some period of time. Is there any network monitorying software that can constantly monitor my network connection quality (for example, by sending ping to google.com every few second) and display a green-yellow-red icon in the notification area so I will know if i have a normal internet connection or not?

Google search doesn't show any such software :(

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2  
How do you connect to the Internet? If via airport express, the airport icon has "levels": More the number of "waves" on it, better the strength. – Nivas Jun 15 '11 at 10:45
1  
The (local) network connection may remain strong (and thus, the icon) even if the connection to the internet becomes problematic. – Jason Salaz♦ Jun 15 '11 at 23:39
Normally i connect via WiFi that is broadcasted by 3G-WiFi router. WiFi is always good, the 3G internet connection quality is in question. – Eye of Hell Jun 17 '11 at 5:31

5 Answers

up vote 9 down vote accepted
+50

Try PingMenu: https://github.com/kalleboo/PingMenu

enter image description here

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up vote 2 down vote

One solution is to use GeekTool. You'll need to write a small shell script, which would be a separate question.

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As i can see, geektool normally displays information on th desktops. And i have lots of open windows - so i can't see how desktop can be of any use :(. – Eye of Hell Jun 17 '11 at 5:34
It can display an icon and you can position it in the corner of the menu bar, or use always-on-top mode. – mankoff Jun 17 '11 at 13:20
The 'shell script' for GeekTool would be "ping -c 1 -W 1 8.8.8.8" :-) – zzz Aug 14 '11 at 14:47
up vote 1 down vote

Try http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/menumeters/

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Unfortunately, it only shows download / upload speed. This information is not really interested since most of internet billing plans are traffic-unlimited and if i download something huge via chrome or torrent i will see speed/percentage/time remaining in application itself. – Eye of Hell Dec 27 '11 at 8:13
up vote 0 down vote

I fully agree with @mankoff. Using GeekTool would definitely work for this situation. Even though you have lots of windows open there is a setting on GeekTool for keeping it above all windows.

enter image description here

This is how you would make the script stay on top of all windows in the GeekTool interface.

GeekTool is the perfect choice for this situation although you would have to write a shell script as @mankoff said. You will find a great article on getting started with GeekTool here: An article from App Storm on GeekTool.

Here is the website for GeekTool. There, you will find the download button: GeekTool's website

What version operating system are you running?

@zzz said this about the shell script for GeekTool: "The 'shell script' for GeekTool would be "ping -c 1 -W 1 8.8.8.8""

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up vote -1 down vote

Dashboard widget:

http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Dashboard-Widgets/Status-Info/PingMonitor.shtml

Or, what is wrong with opening Terminal.app, and run

ping 8.8.8.8

and reduce terminal app to 5 line high... :)

If you want, you can make the Terminal window:

  • translucent
  • sticky
  • float above other apps

with the http://infinite-labs.net/afloat/

so, you will get exactly what you want... ;)

If you save the ping into ping.command, you can start it with doubleclick. etc..etc..

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Ping window is good, but normally i have lots of windows open like web browser, a number of IDE, documentation, consoles etc - so there is no space i can place console so it will be always visible :( – Eye of Hell Jun 17 '11 at 5:32
care the down-voter explain whats wrong? – jm666 Jan 18 '12 at 16:17
@jm666: I didn't vote it down, but I bet the problem is that the OP explicitly asked for notification area and non of your solutions do this. – kbyrd Jan 19 '12 at 3:21
@kbyrd: Without any doubt, PingMenu is the right solution, but the combination of Afloat and Terminal do nearly the same as above mentioned GeekTool - what was upvoted. I'm only wondering - thanx anyway for the answer.. :-) – jm666 Jan 19 '12 at 10:46

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