There\’s nothing worse than no cell service to start a Monday. We\’re already struggling to get through the first morning of the work week. Unfortunately, Verizon customers are dealing with this problem today, as power outages occur across the US.
Verizon is experiencing power outages across the US
According to DownDetector, reports of service problems started to increase around 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (7:00 a.m. Pacific Time) and peaked at over 100,000 within the first hour and a half. Of course, even if you didn\’t check DownDetector, you may have received the same message via social media, with people expressing sympathy.
At the time of writing, Verizon has not said when the issue will be resolved. However, there are a few resources you should know about if you\’re experiencing (or worried about experiencing) coverage outages today.
Will the Verizon outage affect you
Verizon customers who are watching this news in fear can check out a heat map courtesy of the DownDetector aggregator. There\’s no surefire way to predict how widespread a service outage will be, but you can get a better idea of your day by seeing if you\’re in a \”hot spot.\”
iPhone users: Check your status bar
If you have Verizon and you\’re an iPhone user, and you\’re having trouble making calls or connecting to the internet, take a look at your status bar.
The status bar is located in the upper right corner of your iPhone\’s screen, where you can see your battery life, WiFi, and coverage bars. If, in place of your coverage bars, you see SOS or just SOS, that\’s a sign that you\’re affected by a Verizon outage.
The good news is that the iPhone\’s SOS feature means that users who see it in their status bar can make emergency calls even with the usual Verizon coverage outages.
The service provider\’s outage reminds us of our dependence on our phones. Verizon\’s outage comes after a storm caused outages in the southeastern United States.
All of these incidents are a reminder that at the community and individual level we need backup systems. Perhaps, modern technology like satellite internet could be the answer.