the blinking lights on a network switch... what do they mean?

[buckman341]

there's two, the one on the left and one on the right. usually the one on the left blinks a bit.... usually the one on the right is green. i see a light on the right side on our network switch here that is constantly orange... so im curious why this particular light stands out.

can anyone give me a quick education?

thanks!

[ZeekeDaGeek]

Are the lights labeled? It would be helpful to know, since there are few pieces of hardware out there that are the same.
If it's labeled, tell us what it is, and if the light is steady or blinking.
I can tell you a couple of likely labels.
ACT= active
COL= collision
10/100= network card speed (on=100Mbs, off=10Mbs)
Consult the manual if you have it, or go to the mfg's website and download one.

[RyanOldw83]

A green light usually signifies the speed your connected at, and the orange or red light shows collisions.

[Inaris]

depending on the hardware you will see different things. I know that some of our switches show a conection (active) light as allways on, then another that indicated the speed of the connection. The speed is showed by a solid green or a solid orange. Green being 100 and orange being 10 Mbs. Then there is the activity light that blinks green when data is moving. The collision lights are just a group light across the upper part of the face. there isn't one that shows collisions on the specific port, just across all switch traffic.
That is what I can share. And I think this is a Cisco Switch, not sure on model though...

[buckman341]

hi, thanks for the replies. most of the right side lights on the switch are solid green, which would make sense if that stood for 100 Mb/s.

i'll check out the manufacturor's website and see what i come up with.

[mikesgroovin]

Yea....suprised no one asked what the make/model of the device is... But they explained what everything meant....so if you see 10MB, 100MB, Col or Act....at least you'll know what they mean

-Mike