This internet availability indicator reduces frustration

This internet availability indicator reduces frustration

Arduino Team — March 24, 2023

Bandwidth may have increased dramatically over the past two decades, but internet connections are often still unreliable. For people with unreliable connections, it becomes a chore to check a browser again and again to find out when the internet is back. To avoid that hassle, Emily Velasco built this monitor.

This device has only one purpose: to show whether its internet connection is working or not. All it does is ping Google.com and see if it gets a response. If so, the device lights up green to show everyone nearby that the internet is working. If not, it lights up red.

Velasco has a very distinct design aesthetic, which is evident here. The unit's LED lights reside in the eye sockets of a small animal skull for "quirks and curiosities" style. This skull sits under a glass dome, which is a repurposed security camera housing. Velasco has many animal skulls around his house, so this device fits in perfectly.

Inside this base is an Arduino Nano 33 IoT board, although any WiFi-enabled model should work for this purpose. The sketch is very simple, as all you have to do is ping Google.com and then control the two LEDs.

While the gruesome appearance may not appeal to everyone, the functionality is something many people will appreciate.