There is such a utility already: ping
Yeah, i know. Not very convinient. I have to open a cli window and monitor its output. If only there was a way to make it beep() or something when the target IP doesn't respond..
The thing is, you don't really need any notification that your connection is down since it's usually pretty obvious when your browser stops loading pages...
Imagine that i'm downloading a big file or i'm just idling at IRC/IM and i'm busy doing other not internet related things. Like typing a document using a WP which open its window on a custom screen...
Also, there seems to be a problem either with my ethernet card or the "PCMCIA controller" of the motherboard, i don't know. The card hangs from time to time, even if the router remains connected.