Is Verizon down for you? Here’s why your phone’s in SOS mode during the massive outage

An iPhone signing up for Verizon's 5G eSIM service.

Kerry Wan/ZDNET

If you’re seeing SOS mode on your phone today, you’re not alone. Verizon, the largest wireless carrier in America, is experiencing a massive outage that’s affecting users all across the U.S.

Around 10 a.m. ET, users reported that they couldn’t call, text, or even use cellular data. Many added that their phones were in SOS mode.

Also: Verizon is adding satellite texting as soon as this fall, but not for all devices

Phones enter SOS mode when not connected to their carrier network, either because they are in an area with poor coverage or because of a technical problem. Given that most of today’s reports are from major cities, this issue seems to be the latter. 

Fortunately, a phone in SOS mode can still make emergency calls, and you may be able to make some calls and send texts if you have a Wi-Fi connection.  

As of 11:30 a.m. ET, Verizon’s social media hadn’t acknowledged anything. The Verizon Support X account seemed to be sending automatic replies to user complaints.

A map on DownDetector.com (owned by Ziff Davis, the parent company of ZDNET) shows heavy outages in East Coast cities like Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., and New York, but also, to a lesser degree, in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix. More than 100,000 users have reported an outage.

Verizon Down Detector

DownDetector

When I used Verizon’s “Check Network Status” tool, it showed that everything seemed to be functioning normally. The immediate thought is that this might be somehow related to damage from Hurricane Helen, which ravaged parts of Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. However, many people affected today aren’t in the storm’s path.

Also: Storm coming? Take these steps to prep your tech before weather emergencies strike

What can you do if your phone is stuck in SOS mode? In other cases, either restarting the device or toggling airplane mode on and off again helps. In today’s instance, users report this doesn’t work, so there doesn’t seem to be a fix at the moment. If you need any sort of connectivity outside of an emergency call, you’ll need to find Wi-Fi. 

As soon as we get more details on what’s causing the issue, we’ll update here.



Source link

Kerry Wan/ZDNET If you’re seeing SOS mode on your phone today, you’re not alone. Verizon, the largest wireless carrier in America, is experiencing a massive outage that’s affecting users all across the U.S. Around 10 a.m. ET, users reported that they couldn’t call, text, or even use cellular data. Many added that their phones were…

Kerry Wan/ZDNET If you’re seeing SOS mode on your phone today, you’re not alone. Verizon, the largest wireless carrier in America, is experiencing a massive outage that’s affecting users all across the U.S. Around 10 a.m. ET, users reported that they couldn’t call, text, or even use cellular data. Many added that their phones were…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *