Can’t connect to the Internet, make calls with your mobile phone, send messages, go to social networks or use an online service? Before incriminating your equipment, check that it is not a general failure.
“No internet access. Check your connection”. We have all seen this pithy message at least once while trying to surf the web or access an online service. For some reason, while everything was going well until then, nothing works anymore. The Wi-Fi network is operational, the box seems stable … and yet nothing happens. Ditto when access to the mobile network is chaotic. You can restart your smartphone, remove and reinsert the SIM card, check the settings, nothing helps … The calls, when they make, are chopped or cut off abruptly. And the 4G or 5G connection is unavailable. As for social networks, when your messages remain blocked with the status “Sending …” that Instagram, Facebook or Twitter displays the threads of the publications of the day before, you quickly feel at a loss. However, there are ways to quickly find the culprit. And, failing to obtain an immediate restoration of a normal situation, one can thus point the finger at the person responsible for the failure without questioning his local network, his smartphone or his online accounts.
When it becomes impossible to connect to the Internet at home, the battle begins. Who is involved? The box, the computer, the Wi-Fi router? Before disassembling everything and delving into the settings of each device, a little simple check is required.
Before embarking on an in-depth diagnosis of your network, and as long as you have Internet access on your mobile, the good reflex is to check that the problem does not simply come from… your access provider to Internet (ISP). Orange, SFR, Bouygues or Free all encounter difficulties on their network. It can be work, maintenance or general or local breakdown. Also, go to the service page DownDetector dedicated to your operator.
Checking outages at Bouygues Télécom
DownDetector is a web service available in French. It makes it possible to establish an inventory of breakdowns observed during the last 24 hours at the four major national Internet service providers (ISPs). Once connected to the page dedicated to your operator, you have tools to target more specifically your region. To do this, click on one of the cities listed in the section Most frequently reported locations.
You can also click on the section Live map of reported outages and issues in order to obtain a general view of the whole of France. Handy for determining if you are affected.
Finally, DownDetector also lists in the Resolved section, the dates of the problems encountered by the operator.
The site ZoneADSL offers a map of France showing the breakdowns in progress at the four ISPs. Select the one you are subscribed to by clicking on the icons at the bottom left of the map to see the damage.
The map mentions the problems linked to the mobile network and those linked to fiber or ADSL connections. Click on one of the two icons at the bottom right of the map to select the service concerned.
No luck, are you in the middle of the area affected by a failure of your ISP? Unfortunately, there is not much you can do except wait while the problem is resolved. No need to restart your box. In the meantime, if you have a data plan on your mobile, you can share it over Wi-Fi in order to enjoy an Internet connection on your computer or on other devices that need it. To do this, follow the advice in our practical sheet.
The mobile telephone network can also fail. Without warning, of course. If you have difficulty calling, answering, sending or receiving messages, maintaining voice communication, if the sound deteriorates, or if you cannot get a correct 4G or 5G connection, please check that the problem does not simply come from your operator before accusing your phone. Again, the service DownDetector can help you find information by telling you the status of your carrier’s network. You just need to have Internet access, on a computer for example. You will quickly know if your problem is due to a general failure or if you are the only one concerned. Note however that DonwDetector only lists the main French operators. If you go through a virtual operator (an MVNO like Prixtel, Cdiscount Mobile, NRJ Mobile, etc.), first find out about the “physical” network it uses.
Checking outages at Bouygues Télécom
In addition, if you are faced with telephone communication problems with your mobile, it is advisable to deactivate 4G on it and switch to 2G or 3G while the failure is corrected.
On android
Open Android settings. Choose Connections then Mobile networks. In the section Network mode (name may vary by device brand and Android version), choose 3G / 2G Where 2G only.
On ios
Go to iPhone Settings. Press on Cellular data then on Options. To section Voice and data, Choose 3G (Where 2G for older iPhones).
This happens regularly, as recent news has proven. Web giants Facebook (also owner of Instagram and WhatsApp), Microsoft, Google, Netflix and Spotify are also experiencing outages. Impossible to send an instant message or an email, to refresh a news feed, to listen to music… However, it is difficult to pinpoint the origin of the problem. Except to go through the service DownDetector which lists the failures reported by large ISPs but also several of the most popular Web services.
To find out if the failure you are experiencing is not your responsibility but rather one of these services, go to the page that DownDetector has dedicated to it:
Check Facebook Messenger outages
Check the breakdowns of La Poste
Check Microsoft Office 365 for crashes
The site also offers to analyze the status of services such as Disney +, Microsoft Teams, Electronic Arts, Steam or Playstation network to only cite a few.
If you ever have connection problems with one of these services, check that it is operational using DownDetector. If this is the case, try to connect to any website to verify that your connection to the Internet is not the cause or that it is not an outage coming from your ISP. .