In one embodiment, a network device, includes a network interface port configured to receive data symbols from a network node over a packet data network, at least some of the symbols being included in data packets, and controller circuitry including physical layer (PHY) circuitry, which includes receive PHY pipeline circuitry configured to process the received data symbols, and a counter configured to maintain a counter value indicative of a number of the data symbols in the receive PHY pipeline circuitry.