diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 60d394d8..64b9bff3 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ byobu (4.30) unreleased; urgency=low
     - combine mem_* to memory
     - decrease raid status frequency
     - add trailing space to logo
+  * usr/lib/byobu/network:
+    - make network calculations drastically cheaper, by using status_freq
+      rather than a file stat
 
  -- Dustin Kirkland <kirkland@ubuntu.com>  Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:31:31 -0500
 
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/network b/usr/lib/byobu/network
index 6caba275..7253690f 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/network
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/network
@@ -26,11 +26,12 @@ __network_detail() {
 
 __network() {
 	get_network_interface; local interface="$_RET"
-	local t1=0 t2=0 x1=0 x2=0
+	local x1=0 x2=0
+	status_freq network
+	t="$_RET"
 	# By default, we won't bug the user with the display of network traffic
 	# below NETWORK_THRESHOLD in kbps; override in $BYOBU_CONFIG_DIR/status
 	[ -n "$NETWORK_THRESHOLD" ] || NETWORK_THRESHOLD=20
-	t2=`date +%s`
 	OIFS=$IFS
 	for i in up down; do
 		unit="kbps"
@@ -39,54 +40,49 @@ __network() {
 			down) symbol="$ICON_DN" ;;
 		esac
 		cache="$BYOBU_RUN_DIR/network.$i"
-		t1=`stat -c %Y "$cache"` 2>/dev/null || t1=0
-		if [ $t2 -le $t1 ]; then
-			rate=0
-		else
-			[ -r "$cache" ] && read x1 < "$cache" || tx1=0
-			IFS="$OIFS:"
-			while read iface rbytes rpackets rerrs rdrop rfifo rframe rcompressed rmulticast tbytes tpackets terrs tdrop tfifo tcolls tcarrier tcompressed; do
-				if [ "$iface" = "${interface}" ]; then
-					[ "$i" = "up" ] && x2=${tbytes} || x2=${rbytes}
-					break;
-				fi
-			done < /proc/net/dev
-			IFS=$OIFS
-			echo "$x2" > "$cache"
-			rate=$((8*($x2 - $x1) / ($t2 - $t1) / 1024))  # in kbps
-			[ "$rate" -lt 0 ] && rate=0
-			if [ $rate -gt $NETWORK_THRESHOLD ]; then
-				case "$NETWORK_UNITS" in
-					bytes)
-						rate=$(($rate/8))
-						if [ "$rate" -gt 1048576 ]; then
-							fpdiv "$rate" 1048576 1
-							rate=${_RET}
-							unit="GB/s"
-						elif [ "$rate" -gt 1024 ]; then
-							fpdiv "$rate" 1024 1
-							rate=${_RET}
-							unit="MB/s"
-						else
-							unit="kB/s"
-						fi
-					;;
-					*)
-						# Default to bps
-						# Why 1000 and not 1024?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_rate_units
-						if [ "$rate" -gt 1000000 ]; then
-							fpdiv "$rate" 1000000 1
-							rate=${_RET}
-							unit="Gbps"
-						elif [ "$rate" -gt 1000 ]; then
-							fpdiv "$rate" 1000 1
-							rate=${_RET}
-							unit="Mbps"
-						fi
-					;;
-				esac
-				color b m w; printf "%s%s" "$symbol" "$rate"; color -; color m w; printf "%s" "$unit"; color --
+		[ -r "$cache" ] && read x1 < "$cache" || tx1=0
+		IFS="$OIFS:"
+		while read iface rbytes rpackets rerrs rdrop rfifo rframe rcompressed rmulticast tbytes tpackets terrs tdrop tfifo tcolls tcarrier tcompressed; do
+			if [ "$iface" = "${interface}" ]; then
+				[ "$i" = "up" ] && x2=${tbytes} || x2=${rbytes}
+				break;
 			fi
+		done < /proc/net/dev
+		IFS=$OIFS
+		echo "$x2" > "$cache"
+		rate=$((8*($x2 - $x1) / $t / 1024))  # in kbps
+		[ "$rate" -lt 0 ] && rate=0
+		if [ $rate -gt $NETWORK_THRESHOLD ]; then
+			case "$NETWORK_UNITS" in
+				bytes)
+					rate=$(($rate/8))
+					if [ "$rate" -gt 1048576 ]; then
+						fpdiv "$rate" 1048576 1
+						rate=${_RET}
+						unit="GB/s"
+					elif [ "$rate" -gt 1024 ]; then
+						fpdiv "$rate" 1024 1
+						rate=${_RET}
+						unit="MB/s"
+					else
+						unit="kB/s"
+					fi
+				;;
+				*)
+					# Default to bps
+					# Why 1000 and not 1024?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_rate_units
+					if [ "$rate" -gt 1000000 ]; then
+						fpdiv "$rate" 1000000 1
+						rate=${_RET}
+						unit="Gbps"
+					elif [ "$rate" -gt 1000 ]; then
+						fpdiv "$rate" 1000 1
+						rate=${_RET}
+						unit="Mbps"
+					fi
+				;;
+			esac
+			color b m w; printf "%s%s" "$symbol" "$rate"; color -; color m w; printf "%s" "$unit"; color --
 		fi
 	done
 }