diff --git a/blinkenlicht/bl.fnl b/blinkenlicht/bl.fnl
index c99badb..cb8f2b6 100644
--- a/blinkenlicht/bl.fnl
+++ b/blinkenlicht/bl.fnl
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 (local iostream (require :iostream))
 (local metric (require :metric))
+(local uplink (require :uplink))
 
 (stylesheet "licht.css")
 
@@ -16,7 +17,6 @@
       ; 0xf377         ; glyph not present in font-awesome free
       ))
 
-
 (fn spawn []
   true)
 
@@ -41,6 +41,25 @@
                     {:text v})
                  }))
 
+   (let [uplink (uplink.new)
+         input (iostream.from-descriptor uplink.fd)]
+     (indicator {
+                 :wait-for {
+                            :input [input]
+                            :interval (* 4 1000)
+                            }
+                 :refresh
+                 #(let [status (uplink:status)]
+                    (if status
+                        {:text (.. (or status.ssid status.name "?")
+                                   " "
+                                   (if status.quality
+                                       (tostring (+ status.quality 100))
+                                       ""))}
+                        {:text "no internet"}
+                        ))
+                    }))
+
    (let [f (iostream.open "/tmp/statuspipe" :r)]
      (indicator {
                  ;; this is a guide to tell blinkenlicht when it might
diff --git a/blinkenlicht/iostream.fnl b/blinkenlicht/iostream.fnl
index 5209545..8dc1eea 100644
--- a/blinkenlicht/iostream.fnl
+++ b/blinkenlicht/iostream.fnl
@@ -1,16 +1,23 @@
 (local posix (require :posix))
 (local fcntl (require :posix.fcntl))
 
+(fn from-descriptor [fd]
+  {
+   :read #(posix.unistd.read fd $2)   ;XXX needs to check for eof
+   :close #(posix.unistd.close fd)
+   :fileno fd
+   })
+
+
 (fn open [name direction]
   (let [flags (match direction
                 :r posix.O_RDONLY
                 :w (+ posix.O_WRONLY posix.O_CREAT))
         fd (posix.open name flags)]
     (fcntl.fcntl fd fcntl.F_SETFL fcntl.O_NONBLOCK)
-    {
-     :read #(posix.unistd.read fd $2)   ;XXX needs to check for eof
-     :close #(posix.unistd.close fd)
-     :fileno fd
-     }))
+    (from-descriptor fd)))
 
-{: open }
+{
+ : open
+ : from-descriptor
+ }
diff --git a/blinkenlicht/nl.fnl b/blinkenlicht/uplink.fnl
similarity index 95%
rename from blinkenlicht/nl.fnl
rename to blinkenlicht/uplink.fnl
index afe8e66..eda593c 100644
--- a/blinkenlicht/nl.fnl
+++ b/blinkenlicht/uplink.fnl
@@ -58,8 +58,7 @@
       ))
   event)
 
-
-(fn netlunk []
+(fn uplink []
   (let [links {}
         routes {}
         sock (nl.socket)]
@@ -83,17 +82,20 @@
      :refresh #(each [_ event (ipairs (sock:event))]
                  (handle-event event))
      :fd (sock:fd)
-     :uplink (fn [self]
+     :status (fn [self]
+               (self:refresh)
                (let [defaultroute routes.default
                      interface (and defaultroute
                                     (. links defaultroute.index))]
                  (and interface (= interface.running "yes")
                       (get-network-info interface))))
      :wait #(sock:poll 1000)
-     :interface (fn [self ifnum]  (. links ifnum))
+     :interface (fn [self ifnum]
+                  (. links ifnum))
      }
     ))
 
+(comment
 (let [nl (netlunk)]
   (while (or (nl:wait) true)
     (nl:refresh)
@@ -102,4 +104,8 @@
       (print "default route through " (view interface))
       nil
       (print "no default route")
-      )))
+      ))))
+
+{
+ :new uplink
+ }