Was Verizon down on Friday? Thousands of users across the US reported losing mobile and internet coverage in the early hours of October 17. Frustrated customers scrambled to reboot routers and look for answers as Verizon outage hit major cities just after midnight, Newsweek reported.
Customers in US faced service disruptions as reports of Verizon outages spiked across multiple cities on Friday morning.(UnSplash)
As per data from Downdetector, Verizon outage reports surged from just over 80 on late Thursday night to more than 7,500 by 12:20 AM ET Friday, before slowly tapering off. By 3:30 AM, the number of complaints had dropped to around 314 – still well above the typical baseline of 29 for that time of night.
Verizon outages reported across the US
New York City, Boston, Washington D.C., Detroit, and Minneapolis saw the highest number of reports, as displayed on Downdetector’s map. Users in Atlanta, Houston, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Seattle also experienced service drops.
Most reports centered around:
Mobile service disruptions (52%)
Signal loss (40%)
5G home internet issues (8%).
Verizon users react
“Home internet went down around 12:15 a.m. in Novi, MI. Power cycling didn’t fix it,” one user wrote on Downdetector.
Another from Taylor, Michigan, said both phone lines on their account stopped working. Others joked that “two tin cans and a string” might have worked better than Verizon that night.
Why the Verizon outage matters
Verizon is one of the biggest telecom providers in the US, serving more than 146 million wireless connections and 10 million broadband users as of mid-2025, Newsweek reported.
Even a short outage can ripple across homes, small businesses, and hospitals that rely on constant connectivity.
As of now, the company has not officially commented on the reason behind the outage.
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Past Verizon outage and upgrades
The outage follows smaller service interruptions earlier this year, including one in October that briefly affected users in North Carolina. In June, Verizon announced upgrades involving AI-powered support tools and “Customer Champions” for faster troubleshooting.
As of 6 AM ET Friday, reports were steadily declining, and most regions appeared to have regained service.
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FAQs:Is Verizon down right now?
Thousands of users across the U.S. reported Verizon outages overnight, but service has mostly been restored.
What caused the Verizon outage?
The company has not confirmed the cause yet, but engineers are investigating the source of the network disruption.
Which areas were most affected?
Major cities like New York, Boston, Detroit, and Houston saw the most outage reports, according to Downdetector’s map.
How can I check if Verizon is down in my area?
You can track real-time outage updates on Downdetector or Verizon’s official support page.