Using Network Link checks vs Acks.

I was looking at one of the methods in the dot_util.cpp where the linkCheckCount and threshold can be updated and I see a comment before
calling that method in the AUTO_OTA example as mentioned below.

configure network link checks
network link checks are a good alternative to requiring the gateway to ACK every packet and should allow a single gateway to handle more Dots. check the link every count packets, declare the Dot disconnected after threshold failed link checks for count = 3 and threshold = 5, the Dot will be considered disconnected after 15 missed packets in a row

I am just curious how link checks works and is it a good alternative to using Acks and how best to use it to confirm a transmit/uplink was successful?

Thanks,
Yogesh