Quick answer: When internet goes out in a winter storm, the cause is one of three things: your house lost power, your provider's neighborhood equipment lost power, or the line to your home is damaged. Check them in that order. Turn on your phone's hotspot first so you can work while you troubleshoot, put the modem and router on a small UPS so the next power blip does not take you offline, and check your modem for surge damage once the power comes back.
Last updated: November 2026
Key Takeaways
- Most storm outages are one of three things: your house lost power, your provider's equipment lost power, or a line to your home is damaged. Each has a different fix, and you can tell them apart in about five minutes.
- Your phone's hotspot will get a laptop online in under a minute. Set it up before you start troubleshooting so you are not working blind.
- A small UPS keeps a modem and router running for one to two hours, which covers the majority of winter power blips. After the storm, check your modem for surge damage before you assume the problem is fixed.
First, Figure Out Which Kind of Outage You Have
Winter storms knock internet out in three distinct ways. Run through these in order.
1. Did your house lose power?
If the lights are out, your modem and router are out, and WiFi is gone with them. Nothing is wrong with your internet service. Skip to the hotspot section below, then read about keeping your modem powered.
If the power flickered and came back, your modem may still be stuck. Unplug it, wait 30 seconds, and plug it back in. Cable modems take 2 to 5 minutes to reconnect. Watch the lights: a solid online or internet light means you are back. Our modem and router lights guide covers what each color and blink pattern means by brand.
2. Does your provider have an outage?
Your house can have power while the neighborhood cable node, the fiber hut, or the cell tower does not. Check your provider's outage map from your phone over cellular data:
- Xfinity: Xfinity app, or xfinity.com/support/status
- Spectrum: My Spectrum app, or the Outage section under Support at spectrum.net
- Cox: Cox app, or Outage Information under Support at cox.com
- AT&T: myAT&T app, or att.com/outages
- Verizon Fios: My Verizon app
- T-Mobile Home Internet: T-Life app
- Starlink: Starlink app, which also shows obstruction and snow alerts
If the map shows an outage at your address, there is nothing to fix on your end. Sign up for the text alert and wait. Restarting your modem every ten minutes will not speed it up.
Cable providers usually run their neighborhood nodes on battery backup, but those batteries last a few hours, not a few days. In a long storm it is common to have power at home and still lose cable internet when the node batteries run out. Fiber behaves differently: the connection between your home and the provider is passive, so if your home has power and the fiber hub has power, fiber often stays up when cable does not.
3. Is the line to your house damaged?
Ice and falling branches pull down the drop line that runs from the pole to your house. Signs of a damaged line:
- Your provider's map shows no outage, but your modem cannot get online.
- On a cable modem, the downstream or upstream light blinks forever and never goes solid.
- You can see the line sagging, lying on the ground, or pulled away from the house.
Do not touch a downed line, even a cable or phone line, because it may be in contact with a power line. Call your provider and report line damage specifically. That gets routed to a technician rather than the general outage queue.
Get Online Now With Your Phone's Hotspot
Cell towers have their own backup power, so cellular service usually survives the first several hours of a storm outage. Use it.
- On iPhone, open Settings, tap Personal Hotspot, and turn on Allow Others to Join. On Android, open Settings, search for Hotspot, and turn it on.
- Set a password if your phone has not already assigned one.
- On your laptop, connect to the hotspot network the way you would any WiFi network.
- Pause cloud backups, game downloads, and video streaming. Most phone plans cap hotspot data, and a single HD movie can use 3 GB.
If you work from home and this happens more than once a winter, a dedicated 5G hotspot or a router with cellular failover is worth the money. Our backup internet guide walks through those options and their monthly costs.
Keep Your Modem and Router Running Through a Power Blip
A modem and router together draw about 20 to 30 watts. That is tiny, which is why a small uninterruptible power supply (UPS) keeps them running far longer than it would keep a computer running.
- A 600 VA UPS (around $70) runs a modem and router for roughly 1 to 2 hours.
- A 1500 VA UPS (around $180) runs them for 4 hours or more.
- Plug in only the modem, the router, and the fiber ONT if you have one. Leave the TV, the game console, and the mesh satellites off the battery.
The APC Back-UPS BE600M1 (affiliate link) is the 600 VA unit we recommend for network gear. It has five battery-backed outlets, two surge-only outlets, and a USB port for charging a phone. Our estimate of one to two hours assumes a 20 to 30 watt load; APC's own runtime chart covers other loads.
Some Xfinity and Spectrum gateways that provide phone service accept a plug-in backup battery that keeps the modem alive for 8 hours or more without a UPS. If your gateway has a battery bay, see our modem backup batteries for compatible packs.
A UPS only helps if your provider's side still works. During a short blip, it almost always does. During a multi-hour outage, the UPS buys you time to finish what you were doing and switch to a hotspot.
Starlink in a Winter Storm
Starlink has its own storm problems. Snow buildup on the dish blocks the signal, and heavy snowfall or ice crystals in the air can degrade it even when the dish is clear.
- Open the Starlink app and check for a snow or obstruction alert.
- Confirm Snow Melt is set to Automatic in the app settings. The dish heats itself to clear snow, which raises power draw well above normal, so plan for that if the dish is on a UPS.
- If the dish is mounted low, brush it off with a soft broom. Do not scrape it or pour hot water on it.
- Reboot the router from the app after the dish clears.
After the Storm: Check for Surge Damage
Power coming back is the second most common time for modems to die, because the restoration often arrives with a surge. Check these the day after a storm:
- Modem reboots on its own, or drops offline every few hours. A classic sign of a damaged power supply or surge-stressed board.
- Speeds are far below your plan. Run a speed test over Ethernet, not WiFi. Compare it with your plan speed.
- Downstream power levels are out of range. Log into your modem (usually 192.168.100.1 for cable modems) and look at the signal page. Downstream power should be roughly -7 to +7 dBmV and SNR above 33 dB. Numbers far outside that range after a storm point to water in the line or a damaged splitter outside.
- Ethernet ports stopped working. Surges travel over coax and Ethernet, not only the power cord. A dead LAN port after a storm is surge damage.
If your modem shows any of these, and it is a rental, call your provider and ask for a swap. There is no charge for a failed rental unit. If you own it, check the warranty: most Arris, Netgear, and Motorola cable modems carry a one or two year warranty. Our guide on how long modems last covers the full list of failure signs.
One more monthly fee to kill
Renting your modem? That's $120+ a year.
Own it instead. It pays for itself in months. 90-day warranty and 30-day returns.
Pick your provider:
Prevent the Next One: A 20-Minute Winter Checklist
- Put the modem and router on a surge protector at minimum, a UPS if you work from home. Replace surge protectors older than five years; the protection wears out silently.
- Add a coax surge protector between the wall and the modem if you are on cable. They cost about $15 and protect against surges that come in over the line.
- Turn on outage text alerts in your provider's app so you stop guessing.
- Save your provider's outage number in your phone. During a storm the app and website are often slower than the phone line.
- Know your hotspot limit. Check your phone plan so you know how much data you have before you need it.
- Write down your modem's normal signal levels now, while everything works, so you have something to compare against after a storm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does WiFi work during a power outage?
No. WiFi is broadcast by your router, and the router needs power. If you have a UPS on the modem and router, WiFi stays up as long as the battery lasts and as long as your provider's equipment still has power.
Why is my internet out when my power is on?
Your provider's neighborhood equipment or the line to your house is affected. Check the outage map first. If no outage is listed and your modem's online light never goes solid, report a possible line problem.
Should I unplug my modem during a thunderstorm or ice storm?
If lightning is close, unplugging both the power cord and the coax or fiber cable is the only guaranteed protection. For a snow or ice storm without lightning, a surge protector or UPS is enough and you can leave it connected.
How long do cable company backup batteries last in an outage?
Neighborhood nodes typically carry a few hours of battery. Providers deploy generators for longer outages, but in a widespread storm those are rationed. Expect cable service to fail several hours into a long power outage even if your home has power.
Does Starlink work in heavy snow?
Usually, yes. The dish melts snow automatically, and light to moderate snowfall has little effect. Heavy, wet snow and ice storms can cause brief dropouts. Keep Snow Melt on Automatic and make sure the dish is not under a roofline that dumps snow onto it.
My internet came back but it is slow. Why?
Two common reasons. First, everyone in your area came back online at once and the node is congested; this clears within an hour or two. Second, your modem or the outside line took surge or water damage. Test over Ethernet and check your modem's signal levels. If the levels are out of range a day later, call your provider.
Is it worth buying a UPS just for the modem?
If you work from home, yes. A $70 UPS covers nearly every short power blip and pays for itself the first time it keeps you on a call. If you rarely lose power and do not work from home, a surge protector and a phone hotspot are enough.
As an Amazon Associate, ModemGuides earns from qualifying purchases.
