Is EE down?

As the world goes into lockdown over the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, several of the services we all use to keep in contact with our nearest and dearest are under increased demand. 

With many of us already working from home, the situation is about to get worse with thousand of children soon to be home-schooling or otherwise trying to keep themselves entertained.

Earlier this week all four of the UK’s major mobile networks began to feel the heat, with a mass outage leaving many people unable to make calls and send or receive texts. Though the problem was solved fairly rapidly, it could be a sign of things to come over the next few weeks and months.

Below we explain how to check whether the network is struggling or if it’s isolated to your own device – and, if so, what you can do to solve the problem. You may also appreciate our advice on how to boost your mobile signal if this is an ongoing probem.

How to check whether EE is down

• Check the network status in your area by entering your postcode
• Check social media – particularly Twitter – for reports from other users experiencing problems
• Use a third-party service such as DownDetector to see whether others are experiencing problems
• On Android you can also check the voice service and data service are enabled by dialing *#*#4636#*#* and looking under Phone Information

What to do when the problem is local to you

• The first port of call is always to restart your phone
• Ensure your SIM is inserted correctly
• Try moving into a different location to see whether signal improves
• Check that your mobile data is switched on
• Check that Aeroplane mode is switched off
• Update your phone’s firmware
• If you are outside the UK ensure roaming is enabled
• Double-check you have paid your bill

Performing a factory reset is an additional step you can try if you’re absolutely certain it is not a problem with the network.