Verizon network outage: Carrier says network restored after days of problems

If you had trouble using Verizon's network on Monday, you weren't the only one. The carrier confirmed to CNET that it is working to fix some of the issues that led to service outages for some of its users. After a day of problems, on Monday evening it says everything should be back online.

“Verizon engineers have fully recovered from today's network disruption that affected some customers,” the carrier told CNET in a statement Monday evening. “Service has returned to normal levels. If you are still experiencing problems, we recommend restarting your device.”

A Verizon spokesperson confirmed that it was working on an issue Monday morning, and in an updated statement from 4:53 pm ET, the carrier confirmed that the issue was still ongoing but that it was “making progress” on a fix.

“Verizon engineers are making progress on our network issue and service has begun to be restored,” the company told CNET “We know how much people rely on Verizon and apologize for the inconvenience some of our customers are experiencing today. We are working around the clock to fully resolve this issue.”

It was not immediately known what the exact problem was or how many people were affected. Similarly, it is not known whether the carrier will reimburse customers for lost days of service. When AT&T suffered a network outage earlier this year it issued a $5 statement credit to all accounts to “fix” it.

While we don't yet know the exact problem, Verizon says the issues were not related to Hurricane Helen, which hit the US over the weekend.

The problem began early Monday with some Verizon users taking to X to post how their phones were stuck in “SOS mode,” an emergency setting that allows users to contact and connect with first responders but not regular friends, family or contacts. .

According to Downdetector, a site where users can self-report outages, problems with Verizon's service have started popping up in major cities including Chicago, Atlanta and New York. (Downdetector is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Jeff Davis.)

T-Mobile and AT&T confirmed to CNET earlier Monday that their respective networks are fine and that the problems their respective users are experiencing may be the result of trying to connect to a Verizon user who doesn't have working service.

“Based on increased reports of down detectors associated with other providers, we believe our customers may have issues connecting to other networks,” a T-Mobile spokesperson said. “Outside of some areas where recovery from Hurricane Helen continues, our network is operating normally.”