It’s only been 10 days since Verizon’s major network outage took out service across the United States, but it seems that the big-red-themed carrier is having yet another service disruption, potentially another major outage.
We’ve been tracking reported outages via Down Detector, which have also been fluctuating over the past 24 hours. However, for about the last hour, dating back to 1PM ET, there has been a steady increase, hitting over 1,500 reported outages. This means that Verizon customers are noticing no connectivity bars, trouble making or receiving calls, and even spotting SOS at the top of their phones.
Ahead, we’ll be reporting live on this outage and its potential impact of us, so stick with TechRadar for the latest on what might be Verizon’s second major outage in less than two weeks. We’ve also reached out to Verizon to ask for a comment and to see if this is an official outage.
As of 2:01PM ET, Down Detector’s outage map for Verizon is showing the most reports within New York, Washington DC, Dallas, Kansas, and Los Angeles. I’m based out of New Jersey, right across the river from New York, and still see a full four bars and 5G on Verizon as of now.
Regarding current reported outages on Down Detector, as 1:56PM ET the site is showing 1,277. That’s less than the peak of 1,500 reported outages at 1PM, and less than Verizon’s September 30, 2024 outage.
Impacted customers are leaving comments on Down Detector and taking to social as well, though this does not seem as far-reaching of an outage as the previous one.
Unlike the last outage, reports of outages for the other two major carriers are not spiking. Both AT&T and T-Mobile are showing steady with only a couple hundred reported outages.
Verizon has yet to respond to or make a social post about this network disruption. While it does appear to be widespread across the United States, with Down Detector showing impacted customers on both the East and West Coasts, there are considerably fewer reported outages than on September 30, 2024, which had over 100,000 reports.
Verizon’s own outage tracker is showing issues in New York, NY
Verizon has its own network status tool, in which you can input an address and get a result on whether an outage is occurring. I inputted New York, NY – specifically the address for Madison Square Garden – and sure enough, it did result in a message saying, “Data, voice, text and wireless home internet service are limited in New York, NY.”
Further, the message continues to note that it’s a known issue and that Verizon is working on a solution. What’s a little less clear is that it notes the disruption started on October 2, 2024, at 8:39 p.m. ET but should be resolved by 3:55 p.m. ET on October 10, 2024.
I’m not currently experiencing issues in the region, but there are reported outages, and some folks are talking to both Threads and X and noting service issues.
While Down Detector’s outage map for Verizon shows a spike of reports in Los Angeles, Seattle, Kansas, Washington, DC, and New York, Verizon’s own tool isn’t reporting issues in all of these cities yet.
When inputting Los Angeles, CA, Verizon’s tool answers, “We aren’t aware of any issues in Los Angeles, CA.” Seattle, however, results in “Data, voice, text and wireless home internet service are limited in Seattle, WA.” and an estimated timeframe of being resolved within 48 hours.
Like Los Angeles, Kansas isn’t showing issues, but Verizon notes that “5G data service may be limited in Washington, DC.” The message also notes that reduced data speeds are expected until the issue is resolved.
You can use the tool here to check Verizon’s network status for your specific area. If you’re on an iPhone and experiencing network issues with SOS appearing instead of cellular, you can see our guide to using Satellite for Emergency Calls or Messages here.
Verizon confirms there is a network issue in the Great Plains region
We’ve just heard back from Verizon regarding the outage, and the carrier is confirming an issue in several states in the Great Plains region. You can read the statement in full below, but we’ve asked if they can confirm which states are impacted and provide clarity on the disruptions in New York, NY, and Washington, DC, that its online tool is showing.
“We are aware of an issue impacting some customers in a couple of states in the Great Plains region. Our engineers are engaged and we are working quickly to resolve the issue.”
Verizon says service has been restored
Well, it appears this was certainly shorter than the last outage. Verizon has sent us an updated statement noting that the outage has been resolved. It reads, “Some Verizon customers in Minnesota and Nebraska experienced a brief service interruption today. Engineers were able to identify and resolve the issue and service was restored by 3:30 PM ET.”
Verizon has not commented beyond these two states – Minnesota and Nebraska – or the Great Plains region. However, Down Detector, as well as the carrier’s own outage tool, is still showing network disruptions elsewhere.
It does seem that service is being restored for some customers, though, as reported outages on Down Detector have been decreasing. Verizon’s Support account on X is also responding to impacted customers who are tagging the carrier and asking for help with network issues.
In line with Verizon’s statement noting that the impacted states had service restored as of 3:30pm ET, Down Detector outage reports have been decreasing. As of 4:03pm ET, there are only 701 reported outages on the platform.
Verizon’s provided us with an updated statement that reads, “Some Verizon customers in a few states in the midwest experienced a brief service interruption today. Engineers were able to identify and resolve the issue and service was restored by 3:30 PM ET.”
The good news is that carrier has seemingly resolved issues in several states, beyond just Minnesota and Nebraska by 3:30pm ET. While Down Detector’s outage map and Verizon’s network status tool do show other areas of the United States impacted, reported outages are still decreasing. Currently, Down Detector shows 648 reports at of 4:18pm ET, which is down from 701 at 4:03pm ET.
Verizon has not yet posted a statement on its socials, but the carriers support account on X (formerly Twitter) is responding to some customers reporting issues.
Reported outages are back to normal levels
Approximately four hours and 44 minutes since Down Detector first started to spike with report outages, and two hours and 15 minutes since Verizon said the issue was resolved, reported outages are back at a normal level.
As of 5:30pm ET, Down Detector is only showing 366 reported outages, and there are no longer red, heat spots on the outage map.