Connection Statistics Question - D7800 in DSL WAN mode

[EKF]

Hi,

After looking all over the internet for some kind a clue I figured I would give this a shot to see if someone can explain this... so please see a snapshot of my connection statistics from netgear genie attached.

The D7800 is setup as a Router + Modem mode - with a WAN setup of must DSL Wan - as you can see below DSL link is fine and is showing information.

What I'm curious about is what the WAN port statistics are showing - it's showing as "Link Up" and there seems to be packets being sent and received as well as uptime displayed. My confusion stems from the fact that the WAN port should be disabled as a result of setting this up as a "must use DSL WAN" and there is certainly nothing physcially connected to that port it so I'm left wondering what does "link up" mean in this case and why is there seemingly packets being sent and received when there is nothing connected to it? Any insight would be great.

Thanks,

EF

[michaelkenward]

Is your modem/router working as expected? Or are you trying to fix a problem?

[EKF]

There is no specific problem at the moment although there have been many in the past.

I just need to understand what I'm seeing in the connection statistics better as my current understanding of it can't figure out what the entire WAN port line means as there is nothing connected to it and it's in "must use DSL WAN" in the WAN set up - so what am I reading exactly? Where are these packets being received and sent to when there is nothing connected to it?