Is your BT broadband internet not working?
Here are 6 quick steps to fix your BT broadband internet connection back up and running.
1. Check that BT broadband is not down in your area
If your BT broadband is not working, the first thing you need to do is check whether there are problems with the BT service in your area. The issue you are experiencing may be due to a local BT outage.
There are a number of websites that you can use to check if BT Broadband is down in your area.
- BT Service Status Checker
Enter your telephone number or scroll down to the ‘Service status across the UK’ section to check if there are any known BT issues in your area. This will also provide an estimated date/time when the issue will be cleared (i.e resolved).
BT Broadband Service Status - Downdetector BT Service Status
Downdetector offers real-time status and outage information. The Official BT Service Status page may say that there are no faults but if you see people reporting faults on Downdetector, it could be that no one in your area has noticed or raised the issue with BT yet. - Is the Service down BT Status
Is the Service Down works in a similar way as downdetector.
| Provider click to sort | Package click to sort | Speed click to sort | Contract click to sort | Monthly click to sort | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | NOW Brilliant Broadband | 11Mb | £20 | View Deal | ||
| NOW Fab Fibre Broadband | 36Mb | £24 | View Deal | ||
| NOW Super Fibre Broadband | 63Mb | £23 | View Deal | ||
 | Sky Superfast Broadband | 61Mb | 18 | £17 | View Deal | |
| Sky Ultrafast+ Broadband | 500Mb | 18 | £24 | View Deal | |
| Sky Stream - Sky Entertainment TV & Netflix | Optional | 18 | £0 | View Deal | |
| Sky Stream, Sky Entertainment & Netflix with Superfast Broadband | 61Mb | 18 | £13 | View Deal | |
| Sky Stream, Sky Entertainment & Netflix with Ultrafast Plus Broadband | 500Mb | 18 | £23 | View Deal | |
| Sky Glass 43" TV, Sky Entertainment Package & Netflix | Optional | 18 | £14 | View Deal | |
 | Plusnet Unlimited Broadband | 10Mb | £25.99 | View Deal | ||
| Plusnet Fibre Broadband | 36Mb | 18 | £24.99 | View Deal | |
 | Shell Energy Fast Broadband | 11Mb | 18 | £17.99 | View Deal | |
| Shell Energy Superfast Fibre Broadband | 38Mb | 18 | £22.99 | View Deal | |
 | Vodafone Full Fibre 2 Broadband | 73Mb | 24 | £25 | View Deal | |
 | Onestream Fibre 55 Broadband | 45Mb | 12 | £21 | View Deal | |
| Onestream Fibre 80 Broadband | 67Mb | 12 | £22 | View Deal |
2. Reboot Your BT Broadband Hub
As mundane as this sounds, this step is necessary as part of the process of elimination.
Rebooting your BT Hub will help clear any issues on the BT broadband router and also re-establishes a clean broadband internet connection with BT.
A blue light on the BT broadband means that everything is running and working okay. It takes approximately 3 minutes for your BT hub light to turn blue after a reboot.
If your BT hub is displaying any other colour light, check out this BT troubleshooting article
3. Check the cabling to your BT router
If your BT Broadband was working and has just stopped, we assume that the BT broadband router is already cabled correctly so you just need to check that the cables from the BT Master socket on the wall to the BT hub are pushed in firmly.
If you are in the process of setting up your BT broadband router, the images below show how the BT home or smart hub should be cabled.
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We recommend you check out this article to confirm the correct cabling for your BT hub if you are still in the process of setting up your BT broadband.
4. Test your BT Master socket
The cause of your BT broadband issue may be due to the external wiring that comes into your property and terminates into the BT master socket on the wall.
To test the external BT wiring, you need to plug your BT broadband router directly into the hidden test socket in the master socket on the wall.
How to connect to your BT master socket test port
After performing the above test, you will have a good idea whether your BT broadband internet has stopped working because of a BT fault (i.e on the line coming into your property) or a problem within your property.
Alternatively, you can send an SMS to the BT number 61998 with the word HELP followed by your landline number – e.g. HELP 02081231234
BT will run a few tests on your broadband connection and then ring you back to book an engineer if they find a fault or call you back within 30 mins to help you troubleshoot your problem.
5. Test a wired connection
Make sure you have performed the previous steps in this troubleshooting guide as this step will not be necessary if there is an issue with the cabling coming into your property or a problem with BT broadband in your area.
If you have a laptop or device with an ethernet cable, connect it directly to your BT broadband hub. This will help rule out your wireless network as the cause of the issue.
If your internet connection works fine when you are connected via cable, the issue is with your wireless network.
There are plenty of things you can check in your wireless settings on the BT broadband router but the simplest thing to do is reset the broadband router.
6. Reset your BT broadband router to default
Resetting your BT broadband hub can help clear and fix problems on your BT broadband router. The benefits of a factory reset include;
- Fixing incorrect configuration settings e.g wireless settings, DHCP, DNS, filtering rules, etc.
- Resetting ISP settings that may be stopping the router from establishing an internet connection with BT
- Clear memory leak issues
The downside of resetting your BT Broadband hub is that you will lose any custom settings that you may have made on the router. Custom settings such as changes to the wireless network name (SSID), passwords, IP addressing, filtering/blocking rules, etc.
How to reset your BT Broadband Hub in 3 simple steps
You can rest your BT broadband hub in 3 simple steps.
- Find the pinhole labelled “Reset” or “Factory Reset” at the back of your BT Broadband hub
BT Broadband Reset pinhole - Use a paperclip (or something small enough) to press and hold the button down for 20 seconds until your BT hub lights go out.
- Your BT hub will take a few minutes to power up and is ready to use once the power light turns blue.
Further information on resetting your BT Broadband Router can be found on the BT Broadband support page.
BT Customer service contact number
If all else fails you can contact BT broadband customer services on the following numbers:
By Phone:
From the UK: 0800 800 150
From outside the UK: +44 150 174 7714
By SMS:
Text HELP followed by your landline number to 61998 – e.g. HELP 02081231234
BT will run some tests on your line and text you back in 15 minutes to book an engineer if one is required. If an engineer is not required BT broadband support team will call you back within 30 minutes to help you troubleshoot and solve your problem.
For the most up-to-date contact details for BT broadband support customer services and more troubleshooting advice visit: https://www.bt.com/help/contact-us#broadband/fix-broadband-problems
