5 Reasons Why Your Internet Keeps Disconnecting and How You Can Fix It

There’s likely something interfering with your internet connection if it’s flickering in and out like a dying lightbulb. A router glitch, faulty cabling, or congestion on your home network can bring your speeds to a standstill. Luckily, these issues are often easily solved with a few simple troubleshooting steps.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the top five most common connection problems and how to fix them. We’ll also give you some additional tips and resources for heavier troubleshooting.

We go deeper into each of these potential internet issues and how you can fix them further down the page. Click on an issue to auto-scroll to its solution.

Here are the most common causes of disconnecting internet service:

1. You need to restart your modem and router

The modem and router are little computers dedicated to carrying out specific tasks. And like other computing devices, sometimes things get scrambled in the memory and need a good flushing. Restarting both clears out any possible errors.

2. You have a spotty or weak Wi-Fi signal

A weak Wi-Fi signal can result from obstructions, a lack of range, or even interference from other Wi-Fi networks and electronic devices.

3. Your home network is congested

A congested network usually means you’re trying to do too much with too little. To fix it, you need to decrease your internet usage, upgrade your router, or upgrade your internet plan.

4. You’re having internet outages

Outages are usually the result of infrastructure issues that your internet provider needs to resolve. This is entirely dependent on where you live, and there’s no reliable way you can prevent it. If you experience a lot of outages and the situation doesn’t improve, it may be time to switch providers.

5. You’re having issues with your network cables

Faulty cables are difficult to spot because the damage isn’t always obvious. Sometimes a technician is needed to diagnose the issue and make repairs.

Reason #1—Your modem or gateway needs a restart

Anytime you have issues with your internet, always restart the modem or gateway first. It sits at the edge of your provider’s network, so it could be the root cause of your connection woes.

After that, restart your router. It’s the Grand Central Station of your home network and the only device connected to your provider’s modem.

Rebooting both clears up any possible miscommunication between the two. Here’s how to reboot:

Step 1: Unplug the equipment’s power cable from the back.

Step 2: Wait 60 seconds.

Step 3: Plug the power cable back in.

Step 4: Wait while the equipment reboots.

Reason #2—You have a spotty Wi-Fi signal

Wi-Fi signals weaken over distance, so if you’re too far from your router, your internet may cut in and out as Wi-Fi struggles to reach your device. Obstructions between your device and router may also cause intermittent disconnections.

Pay attention to your device’s Wi-Fi signal meter to see where your Wi-Fi signal gets weak and disconnects. Take note of areas where you disconnect while moving around, and pay attention to what stands between you and your router in those areas.

Certain materials, like stone, metal, tile, and water are particularly hard on Wi-Fi signals. Try to avoid placing your router or devices in areas that force the Wi-Fi signal to pass through these materials.

Some examples of things to avoid are placing your router underneath or behind metal furniture, right next to a tiled bathroom, or near a fish tank. Some electronic devices, such as microwaves, garage door openers, and baby monitors can also interfere with your Wi-Fi signal causing slowdowns and disconnects.

Wi-Fi can get tricky, but there’s a lot you can do to improve your signal. Check out our guides on the best place to put your router and how to improve your Wi-Fi range to get the most out of your Wi-Fi.

Reason #3—Your home network is congested

Congestion can be the result of one of two things or a combination of both:

• Your router lacks the bandwidth to handle all your devices
• Your internet plan lacks the bandwidth to handle all your devices

“You get what you pay for” rings true for most of the routers we’ve tested. A budget router that can handle only two devices simultaneously can feel slow as snails next to one that can handle 12 simultaneously. Likewise, a router with a Gigabit Ethernet port is too slow for a 2Gbps internet plan.

On the flip side, a slow internet plan may not be enough for a houseful of devices no matter what router you use. A 500Mbps plan is generally enough for five adults in one household.

To find out if you need to upgrade your plan, find your internet plan’s advertised speed. After that, reserve 100Mbps for each person, add it all up, and see if the total matches up with the plan you have now. If you need more bandwidth, then a faster plan is in order.

You can also use our “How much internet speed do I need?” tool below to discover your household’s ideal internet speed.

Randomly disconnecting internet could be the result of issues with your provider’s network. Internet outages come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes your connection will be out for hours, other times it may come and go.

You can check for outages by using your provider’s app, your account’s web portal, or by simply calling.

If you call, you can also ask for information on past outages to see if it really is the cause of your persistent disconnections. Most internet providers keep excellent records of their customers’ internet connections. A technical support representative should be able to see exactly how many outages your address has suffered and exactly when those outages happened. Hopefully, they can give you an estimate of when the service will be back to normal.

Reason #5—You’re having issues with your network cables

The network cabling in your home can cause your internet connection to disconnect if it’s damaged, loose, or configured poorly.

Here’s what to look for:

• Damaged cables
  Check all your networking cables for signs of damage. Look for tears, chew marks, and kinks. Make sure coaxial cables are screwed on snug to the modem and wall outlet. Don’t forget to check the Ethernet cable connecting your modem to your router or computer, too.
• Loose cables
  Coaxial cables should be screwed on tight. Ethernet cables should make an audible click when fully inserted and shouldn’t come out without compressing the clip. Loose cabling is a common culprit of intermittent internet issues because a loose cable may still pass a signal, albeit poorly. But the signal may go out completely under any additional stress—like every time the cable moves slightly. Oftentimes, the springy clip that holds the Ethernet cable firmly in the port breaks or loosens.
• Unused, but active, coaxial lines
  When you have an active coaxial line in your home that isn’t connected to any equipment, the open line acts as an antenna that introduces radio interference into your home network. If you get a professional install, always ask your technician to close off any open coaxial outlets. Determining if you have an unused but active coaxial line is difficult without professional equipment.

Ethernet cabling is typically easy to fix. Coaxial and fiber cabling can be difficult to repair because of the specialized tools and skills required. For the latter, call your internet provider.

Other reasons why your internet is disconnecting

If you’re still stumped, don’t worry—there are still plenty of fixes to try.

Your modem is having issues

You’ll experience all sorts of internet problems if your modem fails to properly communicate with your internet provider.

For example, if something isn’t quite right with the registration, the modem and internet provider may be continuously trying to authenticate one another, preventing you from accessing the internet. You’re more likely to experience this problem if you supply your own modem or get a new one from your provider.

If you’re having issues with your modem, contact your internet provider. It can check if the modem is successfully checking in and updating, that it’s still compatible, and that it’s properly registered. Sometimes, the customer service reps won’t have the ability to run the appropriate test, in which case you need to request a technician visit or an escalation of your issue up the tech support ladder.

To truly complete this step, you need straight answers to the following questions:

1. Is my modem registered?
2. Is my modem still compatible with the service?
3. Is my modem communicating with the network properly?

Your device needs a restart

Restarting your device flushes out stubborn glitches—even networking ones.

Your device needs to update

Our devices run software so we can use them, like Windows on computers and iOS on iPhones. Manufacturers release updates to plug security holes, stomp out bugs in the code, and optimize performance. Our devices normally update automatically, but be sure they’re current before you spend any more time troubleshooting.

Your device is auto-switching between Wi-Fi networks

Your device may jump between known Wi-Fi networks, which you experience as a temporary loss of signal. When Wi-Fi signals are weak, your device may search for a stronger signal automatically.

Try disabling any Wi-Fi auto-joining or auto-switching functions on your affected devices, and connect to your preferred Wi-Fi network manually.

Your device is on a crowded Wi-Fi channel

Your router broadcasts Wi-Fi on specific radio frequency channels. To provide more speed, it combines multiple channels into one. They can become overcrowded when too many networks use the same channel groups. This is especially common in apartment buildings and other situations where multiple routers broadcast within range of one another.

Routers and mesh systems normally pick the best channel group in your area. You can use a Wi-Fi analyzer app to see all the available channels and the usage on each, and then manually change the channel on your router or mesh system (if allowed). This “fix” may or may not help, depending on where you live.

Your network adapter needs a driver update

Your computer’s operating system updates the drivers to your network adapter (or network card) automatically unless you disabled auto-updates in your operating system. Still, it’s worth checking for the latest update just to make sure.

Follow these steps to update network adapter drivers in Windows:

Step 1: Right-click on the Start button and select Device Manager.

Step 2: Expand Network Adapters.

Step 3: In the expanded dropdown menu, right-click your network adapter (Wi-Fi or Ethernet) and select Update Driver.

Step 4: In the resulting dialog box, select Search automatically for drivers.

Step 5: Follow the remaining on-screen instructions to complete the update.

Step 6: Restart your PC.

You may see a message saying, “The best drivers for your device are already installed.” That’s not always the case. You may need to visit the network adapter manufacturer’s website and grab the latest drivers from there. You normally don’t need to use Device Manager to install them.

Your computer’s network settings need a reset

Sometimes, giving your computer a clean networking slate can resolve strange disconnection issues and other hiccups that are difficult to diagnose outright. This is a serious move, though—it makes your computer forget all your network settings, so you have to reinstall all your networking software, like antiviruses and VPNs, and reconnect to your home network. So make sure you have all your login credentials before you continue.

To reset your network settings on Windows:

Step 1: Select the Start button.

Step 2: Select Settings.

Step 3: Select Network and internet.

Step 4: Select Advanced network settings.

Step 5: Select Network Reset.

Step 6: Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the reset.

Step 7: Restart your PC.

Your antivirus software needs an update

Your antivirus software is the gatekeeper to your device. Its main function is to block risky internet traffic, but to do so, it needs to differentiate between good traffic and bad traffic—that means a lot of updates. Most antivirus software have an auto-update option that we recommend keeping switched on.

Temporarily turn off your antivirus

While we definitely don’t recommend spending much time on the web unprotected, the best way to check if antivirus is causing your problem is to temporarily shut it off. Your antivirus could be conflicting with a program and blocking your internet connection.

If turning off the antivirus software fixes your problem, turn it back on and then get in touch with tech support. You may need to disable the conflicting program or process—or try a different antivirus ASAP.

Programs that regularly update or check in with servers in the background are especially prone to creating intermittent internet disconnections. Look out for cloud services and programs suites with update and licensing clients (like Adobe).

Your modem or router needs a firmware update

Your modem and router need regular firmware updates to function properly. If your equipment is running on outdated firmware, your internet may periodically disconnect due to glitches or registration issues.

Your internet provider automatically updates your modem, but it’s still worth double-checking to make sure the latest firmware is installed.

If you have a separate stand-alone router, you should definitely make sure it’s up to date—especially if you didn’t get it from your provider. Be sure to read our guide on how to update your router’s firmware.

You can check for modem updates by logging into its web interface using any modern browser. Here’s how:

Step 1: Open a web browser.

Step 2: Input your modem’s IP address or login URL—you can usually find this printed on a sticker attached to the back or bottom of the equipment.

Step 3: Enter the username and password—also usually printed on a sticker attached to the back or bottom of the equipment.

Step 4: Find the firmware version number—often labeled and displayed in the upper-right corner of your equipment’s initial settings page.

Step 5: Run a web search or check your equipment manufacturer’s website to make sure your firmware version number matches the version number of the latest update. This is usually as simple as googling your equipment’s manufacturer name and model number followed by the words “latest update.”

Other things to try

Here are a few other things you can do to troubleshoot a faulty internet connection.

Check your router log

Your router keeps a log of significant events on your network. Reviewing this information could lead you to the source of your internet connectivity problems.

You can access your router’s log by logging in to your router’s interface via a web browser. The location of the log will be a little different for different routers:

Step 1: Enter your router’s IP address or login URL into a web browser. You can usually find it on a sticker attached to the back or bottom of your router. See our full guide on how to log into your router for some additional help with this step.

Step 2: Log in with the router admin name and password you chose during setup.

Step 3: Navigate to the router logs. Here are some examples of where you can find them:

• ASUS: Advanced Settings > System Log
• Linksys: Router Settings > Troubleshooting > Logs
• NETGEAR: Advanced > Administration > Logs
• TP-Link: Advanced > System > System Log

The log entries are a bit cryptic sometimes, but there’s usually some obvious terms that give away troublesome events. Look for words like “failed,” “malicious,” or “attack.” Google is your friend here—if you see anything suspicious, like the same entry popping up over and over, google it to see what’s going on.

Try the built-in network troubleshooter (Windows)

Windows provides built-in troubleshooters for a number of issues. These utilities can help you easily diagnose and solve internet connectivity issues on your computer.

Step 1: Select the Start button.

Step 2: Select Settings.

Step 3: Select Troubleshoot.

Step 4: Select Other troubleshooters.

Step 5: Select Run next to Network and internet.

Step 6: Follow the prompts as the troubleshooter as it attempts to diagnose the issue.

Investigate your computer’s background processes (Windows)

Computer programs running in the background of your OS can sometimes slow your internet connection or drop it altogether. This can happen if a program hogs all your bandwidth for a short period or conflicts with your firewall. Cloud backup programs, auto-updater clients (think Adobe), and third-party utilities are notorious troublemakers.

You can see some background programs by clicking the up arrow in the lower left corner of the screen in the taskbar.

You can review all your background processes in the task manager:

Step 1: Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete.

Step 2: Select Task Manager.

Step 3: Navigate to the Processes tab.

Step 4: Click the Network column to organize the processes by network usage.

Step 5: Investigate any suspicious processes by right-clicking and selecting Properties.

If you find something you suspect may be causing issues, try closing the process’ host program (you can identify the host program in the properties menu from step five). If your internet disconnections stop, you’ve likely found your issue.

Nothing worked. Now what?

Call your internet provider. It’s better equipped to find and solve broadband issues. Your issues might require a technician to come to your home to test the tap on the utility pole, check your signal levels, conduct advanced connectivity tests, and a ton of other things that you can’t do on your own. It’s annoying to schedule and wait for an appointment, but it’s the best way to get your issue resolved permanently.

FAQ about disconnecting internet

Other troubleshooting resources

• How To Troubleshoot Internet Issues
• How To Fix Your Slow Internet
• Can I Install Internet by Myself?