You’re not the only person who has asked why is my AT&T internet not working? Hundreds, if not thousands of AT&T customers get this issue regularly, and it’s usually something that’s overlooked.
In this guide, we’ll uncover some of the reasons why your wireless internet or your AT&T WiFi isn’t working. Along with that, we’ll also provide thorough and accurate details on how you can put an end to this dilemma.
To fix your AT&T Wireless internet, the first thing you want to do is to check the status lights of your gateway. Then, find out if there’s an outage or system maintenance.
Let us now learn in detail the most common reasons why your AT&T internet is not working. Also, we will dive into our 5 Steps foolproof fix method before you contact the support team!
Why is My AT&T Internet Not Working?
There’s a myriad of reasons why your AT&T wireless internet isn’t working properly. For you to be able to fix it, you need to know what’s causing it first.
In essence, you wouldn’t really find a singular reason for your internet not working. Nevertheless, there are a couple of common ones that have reportedly been the most common across many AT&T subscribers.
#1. Service Outage or Maintenance
AT&T has millions of subscribers under its belt. So, it’s typical or normal for them to repair or have their towers and services under maintenance.
If this is what the case is, you wouldn’t be able to have a fix on your internet; what you would do is to contact AT&T and find out how long the outage or the maintenance would be.
#2. Billing Problems
One, if not the most common reason why your internet might not be working is because of the fact that your bills haven’t been paid or settled yet.
A lot of AT&T subscribers report that they don’t get notifications and alerts because it’s usually sent to the wrong email, to the incorrect mailbox, etc.
For this, what you have to do is to check your account with AT&T and see if this is what’s causing the issue.
#3. Hardware Issues
Last but definitely not least is the fact that your cables, wires, or even your modem are already too worked up.
It could be what’s causing your internet not to work appropriately. The fix is to check and assess everything from the wires and cables, the antenna (including internal antenna) – to the complete gateway or modem.
These are three (3) of the most common reasons why your internet isn’t working or functioning properly. They’re the customary causes of why you don’t have an established connection.
But how will you be able to figure them out? In newer models and versions of AT&T gateways, there are status lights that you can check to see what’s causing the dilemma.
Know the Meaning of AT&T Status Light Colors
Depending on the gateway, modem, or router that you have, you can actually find out what’s causing it by looking at the color of the lights on each modem or gateway.
Here are what each color means:
Solid Green
Obviously, the solid green color denotes that your internet is working fine and perfectly. Nothing’s wrong with it and there’s no error.
Flashing Green
Should it be a flashing green light, it means that the device hasn’t powered up yet completely. It’s still in the process of trying to set up and establish a network connection.
Flashing Yellow
A flashing yellow light means that there’s a device in place and properly set up. However, it’s not properly functioning, meaning, there’s no network connection.
Solid Red
A flat, straight, and strong red color of status light means that there’s no signal or internet connection being transmitted to your device.
Flashing Red
Lastly, a flashing red status light indicates that a signal is detected but the connection and the linking cannot be made and established.
No Light Flashing
Is there no light flashing? Don’t you see any indication of what the error might be because of the light? If so, then it’s easy to say that the problem could be with the hardware or any of the peripheral items on your gateway or modem.
It could be the cable, the wires, the jacks/ports, etc.
Now, these are what all of the lights mean on your AT&T gateway and device. Should you be anywhere in the yellow and the red light status, it could be anything. Therefore, you need to follow the particular guide below to figure out more about it.
Read Next: Learn the steps to disable WPS on AT&T Router.
How to Fix AT&T Wireless Internet Not Working?
Given all the most common reasons, how do you put a stop to this particular problem?
We’ll take it one step at a time so that you can be given the guarantee that your wireless AT&T internet will be back up and running again in no time!
Step #1: Check the Light Status (Check for Outages)
The first thing you want to do is to see what the error might be using the status lights. If you see a yellow light, then you know that the dilemma is with the gateway or the hardware’s ability to connect to the internet.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, you can also contact AT&T and ask if there’s an outage in the area.
Step #2: Make Sure You’re Up-to-Date with Payments
The next thing you want to do is to check and assess if you’re up-to-date with your bills. Check your accounts using AT&T’s app (with your cellular data) or communicate with AT&T’s client experience team.
Many people oversee their bills so it’s just a normal thing to forget about it.
Step #3: Check for Hardware Issues and Damages
After that, check on your hardware (router or modem) and see if there’s anything wrong.
Check and assess your wires and cables first. Then, see if there’s anything wrong with the ports and jacks where you connect the cables.
Another thing you want to check is the wall plug or the outlet to where it’s getting its power. It might not be supplying it with the appropriate amount of electricity.
Step #4: Power Cycle and Reboot Modem or Gateway
Power cycling or rebooting has done wonders in the world of technology – and these instances are not strangers to it, too.
Power cycle your gateway or your modem by following these simple steps:
- Unplug the power cord from the outlet or from the back of the modem or gateway.
- If you have an internal battery on it, take it out as well and wait for 20 seconds.
- Put the internal battery back to the device and plug it back into power.
- Wait for five (5) to ten (10) minutes for the gateway or the modem to reinitialize.
Step #5: Hard Reset Your WiFi Gateway or Modem
The last step is to finalize everything by performing a factory or a hard reset on your modem or router.
To do this, you need to press + hold the reset button on the gateway for 10 to 15 seconds. One clue is to wait for the lights to go off and on.
Then, wait for the restart to commence and when all the lights have already been lit. Check the status lights of both “service” and “broadband” to see the status of the reset.
This 5-step procedure is the specific step-by-step guide that you can perform in case your internet from AT&T is not functioning properly.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be a wired connection – it can be with your wireless connectivity, too, and still have this particular error.
I Did All the Steps but It’s Still Not Working… What Should I Do?
So, you’ve done and performed all these steps but you’re still getting the error, could it be safe and possible that the problems with the modem or the router? Yes, that’s possible! However, many of us don’t have the necessary skill set to determine if that’s where the dilemma is.
In this case, the next best thing to do is to contact AT&T’s customer support team and inquire about your issue.
It is important to tell them that you’ve done all necessary steps like power cycling, rebooting, and checking of all the hardware so you skip all those steps.
Should the problem be with the hardware, they’ll proceed to provide you with information about it. Furthermore, they would suggest and recommend changing up the gateway or the modem.
Conclusion
No matter how complex and difficult you think it is, you’ll be able to find the answer to the question like – Why is my AT&T internet not working?
You neither need an expert nor a professional AT&T technical support professional. With this guide, you’ll be able to gather all that you need!
Finn Wheatley holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from UCL, London. He helped small data science consultancy firms, helping large corporations to grow their data capabilities, deploy advanced machine learning-based analytics and troubleshoot tech-related issues. Check out more about him here.