Why can't I get an accurate estimated time to repair the internet outage

Hi @jgenaw, we understand your concern that you are unable to use internet service due to the outage in your area.

We appreciate your business, and patience and assure you that our technicians are working to fix the problem quickly. We apologize for this inconvenience.

We are unable to give reports of an outage. You can check for outages by entering your full address.

Also, you can sign up for text alert updates. Then, select Get text updates now. (You’ll only get alerts for this outage, not future ones.)

You can also, enable notifications in smart home manager.

Please feel free to reach out to us for further assistance.

JasmineS, AT&T Community Forum Specialist.

The cause of the outage and the time necessary to resolve can vary greatly… 

someone stating an average estimated time of repair does not know the cause, what is needed, or the extent of damages for an area (zip code) or if damage affects other areas (zip codes).

examples from the past…

Some possibilities include

* bombing of a major hub, affecting service in 3 states

* equipment failure such as card in the VRAD or at CO

* fires, especially wild fires still needing to be extinguished before repairs could even begin

* hurricanes, major ones can take months if not years (Hurricane Katrina was a devastating Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused 1,836 fatalities and damage estimated between $97.4 billion to $145.5 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area.[1] At the time, it was the costliest tropical cyclone on record, later tied by Hurricane Harvey of 2017)

* tornado, an average tornado on the ground for 10 minutes can cause direct damage a city block wide and 3 miles long

* gas line explosion 

* digging cutting major copper and/ or fiber lines

* accident by vehicle including all major transports

* equipment relocation generally associated with road widening 

* other…

Most residential techs start at 8 am and are done between 6 pm and 8 pm.

A few areas might have a late shift starting at 11 am or noon, but done by midnight.

Residential internet has no SLA and normally can be 3 to 5 days, under severe storms could be 10+ days as business services will have priority.

If internet is vital need to have a redundancy service from local cable, cellular hotspot such as FWA or WISP, satellite internet or use your cellular phone as a hotspot.

I understand that repair times can vary based on cause but the cause is known and accessed early on.  The problem is that the cause and assessment information does not get relayed down to the customer accurately if at all. If they would have told me it wouldn't be restored until the next late afternoon, I would have some different choices other than waiting until 10 and then 2AM, for the internet to be restored.  I expect more from a "utility" company that many of our livelihoods depend on. People's lives are dependent upon internet nowadays much like we are electricity and natural gas.

Do we have estimated time of internet service restore for the following Texas zip code 78039?    Thank you. 

Do we have estimated time of restore for Texas zip code 78039?   Thank you. 

@rbernal 

Either check their outage site or call them. As this thread has shown any timeframes are general estimates and are subject to change.

https://www.att.com/outages/