Millions of people on the East Coast experienced Verizon Fios internet outages in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The affected area spans approximately 300 miles from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Richmond, Virginia. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, in response to a user complaint, Verizon wrote: “There is either an outage or network maintenance impacting your area.
We don’t have full details just yet. Our apologies for any inconvenience this is causing. We’re trying to get all the information from our network team so we can provide you all an update.”
Reports of the outages spiked between midnight and 2 a.m. ET, with the network receiving thousands of complaints during this time, according to Downdetector, a third-party website that tracks real-time service disruptions.
Ninety percent of these complaints relate to internet services, 9 percent described as “total blackout,” while 1 percent affected TV streaming. In addition to the East Coast, an area of southern Kansas also appears to be affected, according to the map. A user on X in Maryland posted an update from Verizon which said that repairs had begun at 10:50 p.m. ET, with service expected to be restored by 10:58 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
Verizon Fios is a fiber-optic internet, TV, and phone service provided by Verizon. The company is the largest provider of mobile services in the country. Verizon has been contacted for more information via email on Tuesday outside of regular working hours.
Verizon acknowledges Fios outage issues
Another online tracker, Outage.Report, also reported receiving outage reports for Verizon Fios in around 26 cities. Other major internet service providers such as AT&T, Cox, and Xfinity also recorded a spike in reported outages, according to Downdetector.
Commenters on Downdetector noted that their internet had been down for hours and criticized Verizon for not yet addressing the issue as of 3 a.m. ET. “The @Verizon FiOS network has been down for nearly two hours and neither they nor @VerizonSupport have posted anything,” one user wrote. “Massive widespread Fios internet outage with no acknowledgment from Verizon.
It’s been over an hour. They don’t seem to be acknowledging anyone. It’s mainly the east coast/DMV area.
It’s a little concerning,” another person said. Verizon is replying to individual users on its Verizon Support X page, asking them to direct message for assistance, but the company has not yet made an official statement about the problem. Verizon has experienced several outages in the U.S. in recent months.
The current Fios outage means wifi access is limited for a number of customers across the East Coast. According to Downdetector, the outage has been reported in a cluster of metro areas primarily around Washington DC, as well as Wichita, Kansas.
