Luckily there are some tools around that can put an icon back in your tray to actively show network activity, here are five to look at. If you are running an operating system newer than Vista you will have to find a third party solution. The indicator is also quite handy for wireless enabled computers because you probably cannot see the activity lights on the router you are connected to. The activity indicator is quite useful for you to see if there is any network activity without taking your eyes off the screen.
From Windows 7 the icon has become a static white icon (middle image below) and it’s still the same in Windows 10 (far right). Although the icon changed visually in Windows Vista you can still turn on the activity animation. In Windows XP the network icon for a specific adapter would have two small indicators which flashed to represent incoming and outgoing traffic. Another thing Microsoft also did was stop animating the network indicator tray icon.
From Windows 7 onwards, Microsoft started to make the tray area rather boring looking by turning a number of tray system icons from the colorful versions of Windows XP into monochrome. One area that has gone through some small changes in recent years has been the taskbar and the tray notification area. As Windows evolves over time, how parts of the operating look changes over time as well.