What to do if your service is down
A triage order that shows whose side the fault is on, what to have ready for the call, and why the ticket number decides any later credit.
What should you check first?
Work outward in order: one device, then the whole site, then the equipment, then the provider. Five minutes of triage tells you whether this is yours to fix or theirs, and stops you waiting on hold for a problem sitting in your own wiring. When you do call, the first thing to get is a ticket number.
One device or everything?
If one phone or one computer is affected and the rest are fine, the fault is almost certainly local to that device or its cable, not the circuit.
Check the router and the switch
Look at the status lights before you touch anything. A router showing no connection upstream tells a very different story from one that is online while a switch is dark.
Check the demarc
That is where the provider’s network ends and your wiring begins. If the provider’s equipment there shows a good signal, the problem is on your side of the line.
Check the provider’s status page
A known area outage saves the call entirely, and tells you whether an estimated restore time already exists.
Open a ticket and write down the number
Do this even if you think it will clear on its own. The ticket is the record that the outage happened, and it is what any credit claim is measured against.
Note the start time
Your own timestamp, not the one the provider assumes. Outage duration decides whether an SLA credit applies at all.
Whose side is the fault on?
| Symptom | Usually points to |
|---|---|
| Whole site down, provider equipment shows no signal | The provider’s network or the local loop |
| Whole site down, provider equipment shows a good signal | Your router, firewall, or inside wiring past the demarc |
| One area of the building only | Your cabling or a switch, not the circuit |
| Calls fail but internet works, on a hosted phone system | The phone platform or its configuration, which may be a different supplier from the circuit |
| Slow but not down | Congestion, a failing cable, or something on your network saturating the link |
What to have ready when you call
- The account number and the billing telephone number the service is filed under
- The service address exactly as it appears on the bill
- The circuit identifier if your service has one
- What you have already checked, and what the equipment lights showed
- A direct number for someone who is on site, not a switchboard
After service is restored
Ask for the root cause in writing and keep it with the ticket number. A pattern of short outages is far more persuasive at renewal than a single long one, and it is only a pattern if you have the records. Then check your agreement for the credit clause and submit the claim before its deadline. The credit is yours only if you claim it.
If you are not sure who to call about what, see who to contact.
Last reviewed September 14, 2026
