On November 12, Verizon Fios reported that millions of people on the East Coast of the United States lost internet access early Tuesday. Local news media also shared this information, confirming the widespread internet outage.

Verizon Fios is a service in the United States that provides high-speed internet, television and telephone connections via fiber optic cables. As of September 30, 2024, Verizon Fios had approximately 7.1 million Internet subscribers in the United States.

Millions of Verizon Fios customers on the East Coast lost their internet early Tuesday morning, causing major disruptions.

Areas affected by Verizon’s internet outage

A map from Downdetector, a website that tracks outages, shows the affected area extends about 300 miles from Philadelphia to Richmond, Virginia. According to the trouble map on the Downdetector website, the affected area extends about 300 miles (about 480 kilometers), from Philadelphia through Pennsylvania to Richmond, Virginia.

According to the media, these are the affected areas: Here is a mixed list of affected areas:

• Fairfax
• Arlington
• Norfolk
• LaGrange
• Henrico County
• Philadelphia
• Annandale
• Washington
• Maple shade
• Ash fire
• Baltimore
• San Antonio
• Cherry Hill
• Falls Church
• Miami
• Alexandria
• Lewes
• Raleigh
• Silver spring
• Sewel

…and 16 other cities.

Verizon statement

In a tweet on

“We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Our network team is working to gather all the information so we can provide an update,” said the company, the nation’s largest wireless carrier.

Local media reported that reports of service disruptions increased from midnight on Monday to early Tuesday morning, with thousands of complaints recorded during this period.

Of these complaints, 90% were about internet services, 9% were labeled ‘total failure’ and 1% related to problems with TV broadcasts. Downdetector shows that in addition to the East Coast, there is also an outage in southern Kansas.

Verizon Fios, Verizon’s fiber optic service for internet, TV and telephone, is one of the affected services. Other major internet providers, such as AT&T, Cox and Xfinity, also received more outage reports during this period, according to Downdetector.

How to prepare for a communication breakdown

Loss of internet and phone service can be very frustrating, but there are ways to prepare in case it happens again. If you were affected by the AT&T outage, here are some simple tips to help you be prepared next time:

• Provide backup power options: Make sure power banks are charged so that your devices continue to work during an outage. You may also want to invest in solar chargers for longer power outages.
• Save important information offline: Download all the information you need every day. Google Maps allows you to use offline navigation for saved areas. Store digital copies of essential documents on your device and print them for easy access.
• Use other ways to communicate: There are apps like Zello And Bridgefy that work over Wi-Fi even if regular phone service goes down.
• Keep emergency contacts written down: Just like people did before cell phones, keep a small notebook with important phone numbers. Write down numbers of family, close friends, work, neighbors and emergency services. These contacts can be very useful during a fault.
• Keep a stock of basic supplies: Stock up on basic supplies such as food, water, medicine, and first aid items, as access to resources may be limited during extended power outages. Also consider a battery-powered radio or hand crank to stay informed.
• Make a plan with your community: Talk to your family and friends about how to reconnect if you break up. Let your children know where to wait for you or who to ask for help if the phone is down for a while. Choose a meeting place and choose someone outside your area to check in if local networks are down.
• Get a landline: Traditional landline telephones that are plugged into a wall socket are likely to work better during power outages. During the last major outage, only 13% of these types of phones had problems.