3 Things You Should Check When You Have an Internet Outage

An internet outage happens when your internet connection suddenly goes down. There are several reasons for this. Sometimes it happens when there’s a power interruption. It could also happen when the weather is bad or the submarine cables are disrupted. Strong winds and storms affect cable lines that are responsible for providing network connectivity. In other cases, internet outages may also be due to censorship and cyber-attacks. If your internet is routinely slow or disrupted, you may wish to conduct a wifi speed test to gauge the performance of your internet connection. The results can help confirm whether the speeds you pay for actually hold up or if you need to look for an alternative plan or provider, such as the best satellite internet providers in your area.

Here are 3 things to check when you experience an internet outage:

1. Check the weather

The current weather condition plays a big role in the health of our network connection. It’s important to understand where your internet is coming from. Most DSL lines rely on phone lines and cable wires to deliver data to your computer. These types of connections transmit electricity over copper wires. Extreme winds can potentially knock out power lines. Extreme cold may cause tearing on the copper lines. A power outage will definitely halt your cable internet connection. When phone lines and cable lines get damaged, internet connection suffers. Clearly, the weather plays an important role in keeping our network connection stable. So if a sudden outage happens, you can try looking out the window and checking the weather to see if it’s a threat to your internet connection.

If the weather is good and your power is on, how should you deal with a sudden loss of internet connection? If you’re sure that you’re experiencing an isolated case of network interruption, it’s time to check other things.

2. Check for your neighbors

If there has been a reported outage in your area, you should know. Most internet service providers send out text blasts whenever there’s an issue in your area that’s causing network interruption. Ask your neighbors who also have the same internet service provider if they’re also experiencing a similar issue. If you have a handful of households who are also having internet problems, you may report an outage in your area to your local ISP. If you’re not registered to such service, you can try calling your ISP’s hotline to consult. This is also a good time to shop around for service providers and check out other companies like the centurylink internet plans to see if you can get a better deal.

When you’ve confirmed that the outage is coming from your network provider, there’s not much you can do but to sit and wait. Once they’re aware of the issue, for sure they will deploy some network engineers to work on it and your connection will be back in no time.

3. Check your modem

A modem is a device that allows your computer to transmit data over a phone line or a cable line. Making sure that you’ve paid your bills and have no default payments with your internet service provider, try refreshing your modem. Most connectivity issues may be solved by restarting the modem. Unplug your modem, then wait for a minute before plugging it back in. When it’s on, wait for another couple of minutes before browsing the internet. This works most of the time, but if it doesn’t, you may call your service provider to get assistance. They would run a diagnostic on your network line and try to identify the issue.