I've always wondered whether network interfaces that have these flashing lights flash as a gimmick or do they actually indicate the flow of traffic? Perhaps one flash per packet in or out? I wish I could remember what my call up modem looked like to make a historical comparison too.
TL-SG105E
Very insightful! Are those the speeds that I can cat from /sys/class/net/[interface name]/speed? Assuming you know Linux, that is. Those negotiated speeds, are they hardcoded into the NIC and selected/negotiated based on what category cable I'm using and other such hardware related factors? Also, is there any "wiggle room"? As in, does it do a speed test to check the limits of the physical layer or does it just follow some vendor specifications?