Why Is My Wi-Fi Down? 5 Common Reasons, and How to Fix It

This story is part of Home Tips, CNET’s collection of practical advice for getting the most out of your home, inside and out.

There’s really never a good time for your Wi-Fi to go out: Whatever you’re using the internet for at the time (streaming TV, gaming online, working from home or some combination of it all) comes to an abrupt and frustrating halt. An internet outage could also knock your Wi-Fi security cameras, smart light switches and other connected devices offline even when you’re away — not ideal.

While there’s not much you can do about an internet outage when you’re away from home, troubleshooting and resolving the occasional service disruption can be fairly quick and simple. Here are the most common reasons why your internet might go out and how to fix the problem, if possible. Spoiler alert: It’s not always the fault of your internet service provider. (For more Wi-Fi tips, check out why your router may be in the wrong place, and how to find free Wi-Fi anywhere in the world.) 

Most common causes of home internet outages

Here are some of the top causes your internet may have dropped — we’ll dive into solutions for each below.

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1. Modem/router malfunctions

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2. Inadequate speeds or equipment

3. Hacking or network issues

4. Bad weather

5. ISP service outages and network congestion

Narrowing down the exact issue can take a bit of investigating and troubleshooting. Start by verifying the connection issue isn’t specific to a single website, server or device. 

If you’ve lost your Netflix connection halfway through a show, check to see if other streaming services are still accessible and working. If so, the problem likely lies with Netflix and not your internet connection. If you’re having an issue connecting to other streaming services, it could be that the smart TV or streaming device is to blame. Try streaming on another device, if possible, to verify that an

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Maine Voices: Let’s solve to make large-pace internet common in Maine

The new yr is whole of resolutions, but one particular is high on the checklist for Maine: superior-velocity world-wide-web entry, also identified as broadband. In a condition with such a rural footprint, making higher-pace broadband entry a universal actuality for all Mainers is most likely our most crucial plan precedence in 2022.

Fewer than 50 % of Mainers have legitimate “high-pace internet” or “broadband,” with our condition lagging driving the U.S. countrywide normal and the rest of New England. Proxima Studio/Shutterstock.com

Expanding obtain is the remedy to a problem that has plagued Maine for decades. Listed here are the information: Much less than 50 per cent of Mainers have legitimate “high-speed internet” or “broadband,” with our state lagging powering the U.S. nationwide normal and the rest of New England. Rural Mainers are particularly likely to have insufficient broadband, and lower-cash flow homes are even even more confined by a deficiency of affordability and trustworthiness of services. Forty % of Maine homes earning significantly less than $20,000 do not have broadband, in contrast to just 5 p.c of households making $75,000 or extra. This is not a pattern that we can find the money for to perpetuate.

All in all, extra than 85,000 homes in Maine deficiency obtain to broadband, in accordance to federal benchmarks – and that amount only increases the more our expectations capture up with the moments. Federal benchmarks – download speeds of at least 25 megabits per 2nd and and upload speeds of at least 3 Mbps ended up established about a decade back, and substantial-velocity world-wide-web is even increased-speed now.

That requirements to improve, specially in a earth in which on-line accessibility is far more essential than ever. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote function, length studying and telehealth are phrases that have turn out to be ingrained in our way of life, and in approaches by no means thought of attainable. They are now necessary to participation in the contemporary economic climate. Finally, significant-velocity web accessibility has the possible to substantially improve the top quality for Mainers from Eliot to Fort Kent.

As the

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