How to show that my Internet connection is still up and active in menu bar?

Solution 1:

I made an AppleScript program that checks the internet using ping, and if it finds that your internet is down, it will alert you. You can get it here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/j4i9keisp8r79sm/Internet%20Test.app.zip

If you want to make it yourself, then here is the code:

repeat
    try
        do shell script "ping -c 5 google.com"
    on error
        display dialog "You are not connected to the internet"
    end try
    delay 15
end repeat

Set the application as a start up item. If your internet breaks, it will alert you. You can get a notification center alert instead of a dialog by changing the line after on error to read

display notification "Internet is down"

Added bonus: if you have a Router that will automatically disconnect you after certain time of inactivity, this will prevent that, since you are always showing as active.

Solution 2:

With regard to modifying the system AirPort icon, I do not believe that what you are asking for is possible.

To show internet connectivity, I use a combination of WiFi Signal (which could be substituted for the OS X AirPort menu bar item) and Cloud:

• AirPort off

  

• AirPort on & not connected

  

• AirPort connected & no internet

  

• AirPort connected & internet

  

This works very well and takes up no more space on my menu bar as I use Cloud anyway.

Dropbox is also a good alternative as it also shows network connectivity, although it is slightly slower to respond especially on slower connections where the network test takes longer.