Is it down, or is it just you?
Live status for 30+ big services — Facebook, WhatsApp, Microsoft 365, Gmail, PlayStation and more — plus an instant test of your own connection, the main UK providers’ outage lines, and honest advice on what to do next.
★ Rated 4.9 on GoogleFamily-run since 1995No fix, no fee
First: is your connection OK?
Before blaming Facebook, let’s rule you out. Your browser contacts three independent sites and checks DNS — live, right now, from your connection.
Testing your connection…
Contacting Google, the BBC and Cloudflare, and checking DNS.
Each card shows two honest signals: the service’s official feed (or the nearest public signal — it’s labelled) and whether the service answers from your connection. Browser ad‑blockers can block the social-network checks — a red “you” dot with a green feed usually means exactly that. The reachability checks talk to each service directly from your browser; nothing about you is sent to us.
// BROADBAND & MOBILE
Broadband or mobile playing up? Check your provider
UK providers don’t publish open live feeds, so here’s the fast lane instead: every official outage checker and support line in one place. Have your postcode and account details ready — most checkers ask.
Sky Broadband
Check Sky service status ↗Sign in to check & contact
Sky reveals its numbers after sign-in at sky.com/help.
NOW Broadband
Check NOW service status ↗Contact via live chat
NOW steers support through its online help & chat.
Wessex Internet LOCAL TO DORSET
Wessex status page ↗Rural full-fibre across Dorset, Wiltshire & Somerset.
Starlink
Starlink support ↗No phone support
Check the Starlink app — it shows network status and outage alerts. We install & support Starlink locally.
Openreach (the physical network)
Report damage ↗Openreach runs the lines behind BT, Sky, TalkTalk, Zen & more — but faults go via your provider. Call Openreach only for dangerous or damaged cables, poles and cabinets.
Not sure whether it’s widespread? Cross-check on Downdetector (crowd-sourced, unofficial) — and if it turns out the fault is your kit rather than the network, that’s exactly what we fix.
// WHAT TO DO NEXT
OK, something IS down. Now what?
Pick the situation that matches yours — each one is the exact order we’d work through it ourselves.
Internet completely dead? Start here
- Check every device. If phones on Wi‑Fi are also dead, it’s the connection — not your computer.
- Look at the router lights. A red or unlit internet light points at the line or provider. Note what you see — it helps whoever you call.
- Power cut nearby? Street equipment loses power too. Call 105 (free) to check and report power cuts.
- Restart the router properly. Unplug the power, wait 30 seconds, plug back in, then give it a full 2–5 minutes to reconnect. Don’t press the tiny reset pin — that factory-wipes your settings.
- Still dead after 15 minutes? Check your provider’s status page above, then call them — the numbers are above too.
- Line fine but your kit won’t connect? That’s us: 01202 775566 — same-day help, usually within minutes remotely (once you’re back online) or by phone when you’re not.
One website or app won’t work — everything else is fine
- Check its card in the live grid above. If the official feed shows problems, it’s them — grab a cuppa and wait it out.
- The mobile-data trick. Turn Wi‑Fi off on your phone and try the same site on mobile data. Works on data but not Wi‑Fi? The problem is your broadband or router, not the site.
- Try a private/incognito window — rules out a stale login or a misbehaving extension.
- Flush DNS on Windows: press Start, type
cmd, runipconfig /flushdns. Old DNS answers cause exactly this “one site won’t load” weirdness. - Still stuck? If it’s just you and just this site, something local is interfering — we can usually find it in minutes remotely.
Email has stopped working
- Try webmail first. Sign in via the browser (outlook.com, gmail.com). If webmail works, your account is fine — the problem is the app or device.
- Check the Microsoft 365 / Gmail cards above — big providers do have wobbles.
- Storage full? A full mailbox silently stops new mail. Check your quota in webmail settings.
- Password or security lock? A forced sign-out on every device usually means a security check — or someone tried to get in. Change the password from a known-good device.
- Business email misbehaving is our bread and butter — email support or call 01202 775566.
Everything works but it’s painfully slow
- Measure, don’t guess: run our free speed test — once on Wi‑Fi near the router, once in the slow spot.
- Who else is on? One 4K stream or a games console downloading an update can flatten a lot of broadband.
- Heat matters. Routers and laptops throttle when hot — in summer, see our heatwave tech guide.
- Slow on one computer only? That’s the computer, not the broadband — our free benchmark will show where it struggles.
Could it be a cyber attack? (DDoS, hacks and scares)
- A big-name outage is almost never “hackers”. It’s usually a botched update or a broken dependency — DDoS makes headlines, config errors make outages.
- Home connections are rarely the target — attacks almost always aim at big services, not your router (the exception is online gaming, where paid “booter” attacks on players do happen). If you’re offline, work the connection steps above.
- Received a threat demanding payment to stop an attack? It’s almost always an empty threat. Don’t pay — report it to Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040.
- Run a business website that’s genuinely under attack? Talk to your host about DDoS protection (Cloudflare’s free tier stops most of it) — we can set this up.
⚠️ Outages attract scammers
During big outages, fake “compensation” and “refund” texts and emails go out within hours. Your provider won’t text you a payment link. Forward scam texts free to 7726, and if in doubt, run the link through our free link checker first.
Numbers worth saving
// ALSO IN OUR FREE WINDOWS APP
Prefer it on your PC?
Our checker above looks from our server. Our free Windows app looks from both ends at once.
FREE · WINDOWS 10 & 11 · NO SIGN-UP
Is it down, or just you? Let your PC check both ends
Our free app asks our status checker whether Gmail, Outlook, BBC iPlayer, Netflix, WhatsApp, Facebook, Zoom and others are having problems for everyone — and at the same time tries to reach each one from your PC. So it can say it’s down for everyone, it’s just this PC or this connection, or this PC is offline. Only the services’ own front doors are contacted; nothing about you is sent.
In the app: Internet & email, then Is it down, or just me?.
Download 365 PC Manager free ↓What else it checks
Made by us, a family IT firm in Bournemouth since 1995, and digitally signed by 365 Techies Ltd.
// GOOD QUESTIONS
Frequently asked
How can I tell if it’s the service or my connection?
Two signals together answer it. If the connection panel at the top says your connection is fine and a service’s official feed shows problems — it’s them. If several unrelated services fail from your connection while their feeds look healthy — it’s you (or your router). The clincher: try the same site on your phone with Wi‑Fi turned off. Works on mobile data? Your broadband is the problem.
Why does half the internet go down at once?
Because much of the web quietly runs on the same shared infrastructure — Cloudflare, AWS, Azure and a handful of DNS providers. When one of them has a bad day, thousands of unrelated websites break at the same time. That’s why Cloudflare and Azure have their own cards on this page: if one of those shows red, the ‘dozens of sites down’ mystery is solved.
What is a DDoS attack?
A Distributed Denial of Service attack floods a website or service with junk traffic from thousands of hijacked machines until real users can’t get through. It almost always targets services, not home users — your router is very unlikely to be the target. If you run a business site and are threatened or attacked, don’t pay: report it to Report Fraud (formerly Action Fraud) on 0300 123 2040 and talk to your host about protection (we can help).
Who do I call when my broadband is down?
Your provider — the main UK status checkers and support numbers are listed on this page. Check for a power cut first (call 105, free) and restart the router properly. If the provider says the line is fine but your computer, Wi‑Fi or network still misbehaves, that’s exactly what we fix — call 01202 775566.
Does turning the router off and on again actually help?
Genuinely, yes — it clears the router’s memory and forces a fresh connection to your provider, which fixes a surprising share of faults. Do it properly: unplug the power, wait 30 seconds, plug back in, and give it up to 5 minutes to fully reconnect. Never press the recessed reset pin — that wipes your settings entirely.
How live is this page?
The official feeds are re-read every couple of minutes through our server (so the providers aren’t hammered by every visitor), and the ‘from your connection’ checks run live in your browser the moment you load or refresh the page. One honest caveat: a service can answer a reachability check yet still have a partial fault — that’s why cards link to the official status pages too.
// FREE TOOLS
While you’re here — more free checks
No sign-up, no catch — free tools built by our techies. See all our free tools →
Free tool
Live Broadband Speed Test
Measure your real download, upload and ping right now on a live animated gauge.
Try it →Free tool
DNS Lookup
Check any domain’s A, MX, NS & TXT records — the settings behind your website and email.
Try it →Free tool
IT Health Check Tool
Get an instant IT & security score out of 100, plus a plain-English action plan.
Try it →Still down when everything says it shouldn’t be?
Then it’s something local — the router, the computer, the Wi‑Fi, a setting. That’s our home turf: same-day help, usually within minutes remotely, from a friendly Dorset family firm.
01202 775566 · help@365techies.co.uk · MON–FRI 9AM–5PM
// HOW IT WORKS
How to check if your broadband is down or just you
To tell if your broadband is down or it's just you, run this page's live connection test — if it says your connection is fine but a service's official feed shows problems, it's them; if several unrelated services all fail from your line while their feeds look healthy, it's you or your router.
Step by step
- Read the connection panel at the top — When the page loads it contacts Google, the BBC and Cloudflare and checks DNS live from your own connection — a green result means your line is reaching the internet.
- Check the service you care about — Find the service in the grid (or search for it). Each card shows two signals: its official status feed and whether it answers from your connection.
- Do the phone-on-mobile-data test — Open the same site on your phone with Wi-Fi turned off. If it works on mobile data, your home broadband is the problem, not the website.
- Check your provider's outage line — Scroll to the broadband and mobile section for the official outage checkers and support numbers — have your postcode and account details ready.
- Restart the router properly — Unplug the power, wait 30 seconds, plug back in, and give it up to 5 minutes to reconnect. Never press the recessed reset pin — that wipes your settings.
Good to know
Is my broadband down or is it just me?
Use the live connection test at the top of this page. If it confirms your connection is working but a specific service shows problems, the fault is with that service. If the test fails or several unrelated services all drop at once while their own feeds look healthy, the problem is your broadband, router or Wi-Fi — the quickest confirmation is to load the same site on your phone with Wi-Fi off.
How do I know if it's my router or the broadband line itself?
If a wired or nearby-to-router device works but others don't, it's usually Wi-Fi or the router; if nothing on any device can get online, it points to the line or an area outage. Your provider's official checker (linked on this page) can test the line directly, and dialling 105 free will tell you about a local power cut affecting the cabinet.
Why is half the internet down at the same time?
Much of the web runs on a few shared providers — Cloudflare, AWS, Azure and a handful of DNS services — so when one has a bad day, thousands of unrelated sites break together. That is why this page shows Cloudflare and Azure cards: if one is red, the mass-outage mystery is usually solved and it's nothing to do with your connection.