Understanding Network Port Lights – What Do They Mean?

so guys what do these lights mean on your switches routers and network devices you're going to find out next on the ultimate tech hub [Music] so today the question is what do these lights indicate on your network ports but first why is it important to know what these lights actually mean well if you have a network failure or a network issue this should be the first place to look this is called the physical layer in networking the physical layer is the first layer in the osi model and i will explain the osi model in a different episode but for now just remember to check all physical connections and this should start with the network ports so back to our original question what do these lights mean on our network devices so i want to be really clear about this routers switches and other network devices will have different lights some will have one light and some will have two lights and some will have different color lights and depending on the make and model each different device may have a different set of parameters for the network lights however there are three indicators that almost all network devices share let's first start with if your network port has no light on at all this means you have an ethernet cable plugged in to a switch or a router or network device and there's no light on at all that simply means you have no network connectivity and that is bad the second indicator is a solid light usually a green light but it can be amber or orange depending on the make or model this solid light indicates you have network connectivity and this is good the third indicator is a flashing light a flashing light means activity which means data flow in and out of the device and like i said before this blinking light could be green amber or orange depending on the make and model of the device for instance on many switches like cisco switches there is a left and a right light the left light is for traffic and throughput and the right light is general status however cheaper switches will have only one light and on routers like linksys routers you'll have two lights left light is a green light and the right light is yellow or orange so be sure to check your manual to find out what a blinking yellow light or amber light means many times that can refer to the speed of your connection but not always just remember no light means no connection solid light means a connection and blinking light means activity and these are the basic meanings of the network port lights and we hope this video helps you understand what your network port lights mean understanding network port lights will help you diagnose networking issues well guys we're all done here and i want to thank you guys for watching and remember if you like these videos give a thumbs up and share it if you love it hit subscribe to keep this channel alive thanks again for watching