diff --git a/i3status-anyevent b/i3status-anyevent
index d6187b6..b8877bf 100644
--- a/i3status-anyevent
+++ b/i3status-anyevent
@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@ my $charge = '';
 my $tcp_check = 0;
 my $file_check = 0;
 my $file_check_mtime = 0;
-my $simple_volume_pa = '??';
+my $simple_volume_pa = '<big>♪</big> ??%';
+my $interfaces = '??';
 my $output_string;
 my $old_output_string = '';
 my $STDIN_FIRST_LINE_DROPPED = 0;
@@ -215,6 +216,10 @@ sub add_events () {
 				push @{$OUTPUT}, { color => $CONF->{color}, full_text => $vpn_str };
 			}
 
+			if ($CONF->{'net-if'}->{enabled}) {
+				push @{$OUTPUT}, { color => $CONF->{color}, full_text => $interfaces, markup => 'pango' };
+			}
+
 			if ($CONF->{battery}->{enabled}) {
 				push @{$OUTPUT}, { color => $CONF->{color}, full_text => $charge, markup => 'pango' };
 			}
@@ -618,6 +623,35 @@ sub add_events () {
 		);
 	}
 
+	# poll operstate for given net ifs
+	if ($CONF->{'net-if'}->{enabled}) {
+		push @EP, AnyEvent->timer (
+			after    => 0,    # first invoke ASAP
+			interval => 1,    # then invoke every 1 second
+			cb       => sub { # the callback to invoke
+				my @ifstate;
+
+				foreach my $if (@{$CONF->{'net-if'}->{if}}) {
+					if (open my $STATEFH, '<', "$if->{dir}/operstate") {
+						my $state = <$STATEFH>;
+						close $STATEFH;
+						chomp $state;
+
+						if ($state eq 'up') {
+							push @ifstate, sprintf '%s:<span foreground="%s">▲</span>', $if->{name}, $CONF->{'net-if'}->{up_color};
+						} else {
+							push @ifstate, sprintf '%s:<span foreground="%s">▼</span>', $if->{name}, $CONF->{'net-if'}->{down_color};
+						}
+					}
+				}
+
+				if ($#ifstate >=0 ) {
+					$interfaces = join '  ', @ifstate;
+				}
+			}
+		);
+	}
+
 	return;
 }
 
diff --git a/i3status-anyevent.json b/i3status-anyevent.json
index fefcf4e..198789e 100644
--- a/i3status-anyevent.json
+++ b/i3status-anyevent.json
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@
 	"tcp_check" : {
 		"enabled": 0,
 		"host": "somehost.tld",
-		"port": "443",
+		"port": 443,
 		"timeout" : 3
 	}
 },
@@ -61,6 +61,23 @@
 # so it's not light on system resources as i'd like
 "simple-volume-pa": 0,
 
+"net-if" : {
+	"enabled" : 0,
+# html (actually, pango) notation
+	"down_color" : "red",
+	"up_color" : "green",
+	"if" : [
+		{
+			"name" : "eth0",
+			"dir" : "/sys/class/net/eth0"
+		},
+		{
+			"name" : "wlan0",
+			"dir" : "/sys/class/net/wlan0"
+		}
+	]
+},
+
 # Weather to display Application Buttons
 "app_buttons": 1,