Is my internet down? How to check for an outage

To check whether your internet is down, see if every device has lost the connection, look at the modem's lights, then turn off Wi-Fi on your phone and use mobile data to open your ISP's outage page or app. If the ISP shows an outage in your area, there's nothing to fix at home: sign up for alerts and wait. If it doesn't, the problem is probably your modem, router or Wi-Fi, and a restart in the right order fixes most cases.

The two-minute check

1. Try a second device. If your laptop is offline but your phone on Wi-Fi works, the problem is the laptop, not the internet.
2. Look at the modem. A red, orange or blinking internet or online light usually means the modem can't reach your ISP.
3. Switch your phone to mobile data and open your ISP's outage page or app. This tells you whether there's a known outage.
4. Restart the modem, then the router. Unplug both, wait about 30 seconds, plug in the modem first, wait until its lights settle, then plug in the router.
5. Test again once everything is back up.

Read the modem lights

Every brand labels its lights differently, so check the manual or the label on the bottom of your box. In general:

• Power off: check the plug and the outlet.
• Downstream, upstream or online light blinking (cable): the modem is trying to connect to the ISP but can't. This often means an outage or a cable problem outside your home.
• Red LOS or PON light (fiber): LOS means "loss of signal". The ONT isn't receiving light from the ISP's fiber. You can't fix this at home. Call the ISP.
• Internet light red but everything else normal: the line is up but the ISP isn't letting you online. This could be an account issue or an outage.
• All lights normal: the internet is reaching your home. Look at the router and Wi-Fi next.

If you have a separate modem and router, it helps to know which box does what. Modem vs router explains the difference.

Is it my router or my ISP?

If the modem looks healthy but nothing can get online, take the router out of the picture:

• Connect a laptop by Ethernet to the router. If it works on cable but not on Wi-Fi, the problem is Wi-Fi.
• Open the router's app or admin page and check the internet or WAN status. If it has no public IP address, the router isn't getting a connection from the modem or ISP.
• If you have a separate modem, connect a laptop straight to it. Some cable modems only accept a new device after a restart, so restart the modem first. If the laptop works, the problem is your router.

If your devices say they're connected to Wi-Fi but no websites load, see connected but no internet for the specific fixes.

Check your ISP's outage page

Most large ISPs have an outage map or status check. You may need to sign in so they can check your address:

• Xfinity: the Xfinity Outage Map, or text "Out" to 266278, as listed on Xfinity's support page.
• Spectrum: the outage information page, or the My Spectrum app.
• AT&T: the AT&T outages page.

For other providers, look in your ISP's app first. That's usually the fastest way to see a confirmed outage. Crowd-sourced outage sites can show when lots of people are reporting problems at once, but they can't tell you about your specific line.

When some things work and others don't

Not every outage is a total blackout:

• Some websites load and others don't: the problem may be one service, not your internet. Check that service's status page. DNS can also be the cause. See does DNS affect internet speed? for when changing DNS helps.
• Everything works, but very slowly: run the SpeedMetric speed test on a wired device and compare it with your plan. A sudden drop that affects every device often means a problem in the ISP's network.
• The connection keeps dropping and coming back: this is often a loose or damaged cable, or a signal problem on the ISP's line. Note each time it drops.

The step-by-step debug guide works through slow connections in order.

Write down what you saw before you call

Support calls go faster when you can describe what happened:

Note	Example
When it started	Tuesday, about 7:15 pm
Which devices were affected	All, wired and Wi-Fi
Modem lights	Online light blinking
What you tried	Restarted modem and router, tried a laptop by Ethernet
Speed test results, if any	Times and download, upload and ping

If the line keeps dropping, a log of times over a few days shows the ISP a pattern that a single call can't. It also helps if you ask for a bill credit later.