diff --git a/rrmngmnt/network.py b/rrmngmnt/network.py
index e8ae147..7f42f1d 100644
--- a/rrmngmnt/network.py
+++ b/rrmngmnt/network.py
@@ -699,11 +699,22 @@ def get_interface_speed(self, interface):
         Returns:
             str: Interface speed, or empty string if error has occurred
         """
-        cmd = "ethtool -i {iface}".format(iface=interface)
-        rc, out, err = self.host.run_command(command=shlex.split(cmd))
-        if rc:
-            logger.error("Error fetching speed from interface: %s", err)
-            return ""
-        return self._cmd(
-            ["cat", "/sys/class/net/{iface}/speed".format(iface=interface)]
-        )
+        ethtool_cmd = "ethtool -i {iface}".format(iface=interface)
+        self._cmd(shlex.split(ethtool_cmd))
+        speed_cmd = "cat /sys/class/net/{iface}/speed".format(iface=interface)
+        out = self._cmd(shlex.split(speed_cmd))
+        return out.strip()
+
+    def get_interface_status(self, interface):
+        """
+        Get interface status
+
+        Args:
+            interface (str): Interface name
+
+        Returns:
+            str: Interface status (up/down)
+        """
+        cmd = "cat /sys/class/net/{iface}/operstate".format(iface=interface)
+        out = self._cmd(shlex.split(cmd))
+        return out.strip()
diff --git a/tests/test_network.py b/tests/test_network.py
index 7edae24..4b94572 100644
--- a/tests/test_network.py
+++ b/tests/test_network.py
@@ -186,7 +186,8 @@ class TestNetwork(object):
         'ip link set up interface': True,
         'ip link set down interface': True,
         "ethtool -i eth0": (0, "driver: e1000", ""),
-        "cat /sys/class/net/eth0/speed": (0, "1000", "")
+        "cat /sys/class/net/eth0/speed": (0, "1000", ""),
+        "cat /sys/class/net/eth0/operstate": (0, "up", "")
     }
     files = {
     }
@@ -261,6 +262,9 @@ def if_down(self):
     def test_get_interface_speed(self):
         assert get_host().network.get_interface_speed("eth0") == "1000"
 
+    def test_get_interface_status(self):
+        assert get_host().network.get_interface_status("eth0") == "up"
+
 
 class TestHostNameCtl(object):