If you connect your Mac or MacBook to your network with a cable, you will not see an icon in the menu bar. In this tip, we’ll show you how to do this.
This will give you an icon for wired internet
If you connect to the internet via WiFi, macOS High Sierra will show a fan-shaped icon in the menu bar. This way you can see at a glance whether you are connected and how strong the range is. But if you access the internet via a network cable, you will not see the status of this, as you can see on Windows, for example.
Yet it is possible to get an icon for this by installing a (small) app. With the simple application Ethernet Status you get a nice symbol in the menu bar, which fits well with the rest of macOS. If you are not connected, the icon will become transparent, just like the macOS bluetooth symbol.
Ethernet Status
Ethernet Status is a simple app that actually does nothing more than display the status of your wired internet. The icon tells you whether you are connected or not, similar to how the wifi symbol works. If you click on it, you will see the status of your connection and what your public IP address is.
The app is only a megabyte in size and uses little RAM. After installing the app, you don’t have to set anything: Ethernet Status automatically shows the status of your wired internet. With a small in-app purchase you get some extra features, such as viewing multiple network adapters and requesting both your IPv4 and IPv6 address.
→ Download Ethernet Status from the App Store (free)