Massive Verizon outage — live updates and what to do with iPhone in SOS

 Massive Verizon outage — live updates and what to do with iPhone in SOS

Customers are unable to make phone calls

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By John Velasco last updated October 1, 2024

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Verizon store front.

(Image: © Shutterstock)

Some Verizon customers woke up this morning to their phones in SOS mode due to an an apparent outage, which has yet to be resolved now that we're more than halfway through the afternoon.

Service tracker Downdetector first registered a huge spike starting at 10:00 a.m. ET, with many customers saying on X and Threads that they’re having issues placing phone calls.

There doesn’t appear to be an early culprit to the outage from this morning, but Verizon engineers are actively looking to the issue. Many of the affected customers say that they’re unable to make outbound phone calls — while others say they can’t make any calls due to their phone going into SOS mode.

Phones usually enter this mode due to being disconnected from the network, whether it’s from poor connection on their part being in an area with no or weak coverage — or on the flip side, the problem stems from the carrier’s network.

It's affecting both iPhone and Android phones, as well as disrupting Wi-Fi calling services to these devices which would typically be fallback solutions.

Are you having issues with Verizon? Let us know.

This is a developing story, so check back for frequent updates.

October 1, 2024 at 1:31 AM

Outage is still ongoing

Downdetector Verizon outage map.

(Image credit: Downdetector)

As of 4:06 p.m. ET, the Verizon outage is still ongoing with approximately 45,172 reported incidents according to Downdetector. This is a slight decrease from 1:00 p.m. ET when there was a dramatic dip.

October 1, 2024 at 12:33 AM

Wi-Fi calling service is also affected by the outage

How to set up Wi-Fi calling on iPhone

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Wi-Fi calling service is also affected by the outage

September 30, 2024 at 11:44 PM

Consider VoIP services as a backup

A photo of a phone screen showing the Google Voice app

(Image credit: Google)

Even though many wireless carriers offer Wi-Fi calling as an extra way to stay connected, broader network outages such as today's Verizon one can still affect Wi-Fi calling services.

This is why a backup solution to stay connected is to look at VoIP services such as TextNow and Google Voice. Obviously you'd have to create new accounts to use these services, but they're great backup options in the event your main service provider goes down. That way, you can still receive text messages and calls through your mobile device or through a browser.

September 30, 2024 at 11:21 PM

Reported outages continue to slow down

Downdetector Verizon outage map.

(Image credit: Downdetector)

We're more than 4 hours into when the first reports about Verizon outages began and it's still slowly declining.  As of 2:01 p.m. ET, there was a total of 49,730 reported outages according to Downdetector, which is a steady decline. Verizon's still investigating the cause of the outage and is actively pursuing a solution to restore service.

September 30, 2024 at 10:43 PM

Over 2,600 replies to Verizon on X

We are aware of an issue impacting service for some customers. Our engineers are engaged and we are working quickly to identify and solve the issue.September 30, 2024

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Clearly customers are voicing their concerns about the ongoing Verizon outage. In fact, there has already been over 2,900 replies to Verizon's post on X. Many of the responders still claim they are unable to make phone calls.

September 30, 2024 at 10:22 PM

Verizon engineers trying to identify outage issue

Verizon statement on outage.

(Image credit: Verizon)

From Verizon's own network status page, the company says it's aware about the ongoing wireless service interruption that's affecting some customers. There's still no work on what exactly has caused the outage, but the company says that network engineers are working to quickly identify the problem and solving it.

September 30, 2024 at 9:54 PM

The current status

Verizon outage on Down Detector as of 1 p.m. ET on September 30

(Image credit: Down Detector)

We're about three hours into this outage, and while the Down Detector chart appears to be trending downward, that's still a high level of outage reports. From Northern California, Philip Michaels confirms that he still can't place calls on Verizon's network