How to report a broadband fault and get it fixed

A quick check can save a wasted call, and sometimes an engineer charge. Start with your provider's service status page or app: if there's a known outage, your provider already knows. BT, for example, shows known issues with an estimated fix time where it has one, and TalkTalk has a Service Status page.

If there's no known outage, work through our step-by-step guide on what to do when your broadband is down, and use our guide to what your router's lights mean so you can describe what you're seeing.

Try the test socket if you're on a copper or FTTC line

The test socket sits inside your main phone socket. TalkTalk explains that plugging your router into it connects you straight to the external line, bypassing your home's internal wiring. If the connection works from the test socket, the problem is inside your home, such as wiring or extensions. If it still fails, the problem is likely outside. BT suggests trying it before you call; its instructions are for copper and Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC, part-fibre) customers, not full fibre. It's worth doing because an engineer visit for a fault inside your home can be charged.

Two more tips:

• Call from a mobile if you can, Openreach suggests, in case your provider runs line tests during the call.
• Warn your provider about medical or monitoring devices on the line. TalkTalk says not to run a line test if one is connected; contact it instead.

These are the routes each provider published when we checked in October 2026. Numbers and hours change, so check your provider's help pages if one doesn't work.

See our pages on BT, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media broadband, or our broadband providers page for the rest.

Once the fault is logged, there are usually up to three stages: remote tests, an engineer visit if needed, and a check that everything works.

We haven't found one repair deadline that applies to every provider. A few published benchmarks tell you what's reasonable and when to start pushing:

Openreach adds that repairs take longer when extra equipment, complex work or permissions (such as for digging in a public area) are needed. If you're told to expect a long wait, ask why and when you'll next hear.

Ofcom's automatic compensation scheme is voluntary. Ofcom's guide (last updated July 2026) lists the providers signed up as BT, EE, Hyperoptic, Plusnet, Sky (including NOW Broadband), TalkTalk (with restrictions for customers not on the Openreach network), Utility Warehouse, Virgin Media, Vodafone and Zen Internet. With them, you don't need to claim; you only need to report the fault. From 1 April 2026, you get £10.34 a day if the service isn't fixed after two full working days, and £32.31 for each missed engineer appointment. The amounts rise each 1 April in line with inflation (CPI).

How the two working days work: the industry code gives the example of a fault reported on a Monday, where compensation is due if it isn't fixed by 11.59pm on the Wednesday. In BT's worked example, if that fault is fixed the following Monday, you get four days (Thursday to Sunday), or £41.36. Under the code, a fault reported outside your provider's usual fault-reporting hours starts the clock at 9am on the next working day.

Points that catch people out:

• Total loss only. Slow or intermittent faults don't count; nor, for Virgin Media, does losing Wi-Fi while a wired connection works.
• Take the first appointment if you can. Days may not count if you turn it down or ask to move it.
• Faults caused inside your home don't count.
• One payment if both services fail. If your landline and broadband go down at the same time, you get one payment, not two.
• It usually arrives as a bill credit, no later than 30 calendar days after the fault is fixed.

Not every provider is a member. MoneySavingExpert reported in August 2026 that Rise Fibre wasn't signed up at that time. Some non-members have their own terms. Connect Fibre's terms say it may credit your account (the equivalent of two days of service for each extra day) if a full fibre broadband outage takes longer than four business days to repair from when you reported it, but you must contact its Customer Service within 14 days of the outage to ask, and later requests won't be considered. Our guide to broadband automatic compensation explains the full rules and what to do if a payment doesn't arrive.

A connection that's very slow or keeps dropping isn't a total loss, so it won't trigger automatic compensation. It's still a fault worth reporting: say clearly that the service is degraded rather than down.

To give your provider something it can act on:

1. Test with a device connected to the router by an Ethernet cable, because Wi-Fi results vary with walls and distance. You can use our broadband speed test for this.
2. Test at different times over several days, noting each result, plus when any dropouts happen and how long they last.
3. Send the log when you report the problem, and ask what minimum speed your contract guarantees.

Speed problems have their own protection. Under Ofcom's Broadband Speeds Code of Practice, if your service doesn't deliver the speeds you were promised, the problem is on your provider's network and it can't fix it within 30 days, it must let you leave without an early exit fee. Ofcom lists BT, EE, NOW Broadband, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk, Utility Warehouse, Virgin Media and Zen Internet as covered. See our guides to broadband that keeps dropping out and minimum speed guarantees.

If you or someone you live with depends on the phone or broadband for health reasons, ask about priority fault repair. Ofcom says providers must offer it for landline and broadband (not mobile) to any disabled person with a genuine need for an urgent repair, at no more than their standard repair charge. Some of these services need registering in advance, so do it before anything goes wrong.

How some providers handle it, checked October 2026:

• BT: free priority repair if you or someone living with you is disabled under the Equality Act 2010, housebound through long-term illness or disability, or a severely sick child. A doctor or hospital consultant countersigns the form, and BT aims to prioritise these repairs every day, including weekends and bank holidays.
• TalkTalk: free priority repair where someone in the household is at risk, for example using a home dialysis machine or ventilator, or unable to leave the house unaided.
• Virgin Media and EE: both prioritise repairs if you've registered your needs or tell them, when reporting, that you rely on the service.

For priority repair customers, the industry compensation code starts the clock from when the provider first became aware of the problem. If a care alarm uses your line, read our guide on telecare alarms and digital landlines; our guide to broadband help for disabled customers covers other support you can register for.

If your fault drags on, a paper trail makes each next step easier.

1. Keep a log. Note your fault reference, every contact (date, time, channel and who you spoke to), every appointment and whether the engineer came.
2. Ask for specifics: what the engineer found, what happens next and when, and (with a scheme member) whether compensation is being applied.
3. Make a formal complaint if the repair keeps slipping. Use the provider's complaints process, not just another fault report. Our guide on how to complain about your broadband provider takes you through it.
4. Take it to ADR if needed. Since 8 April 2026, you can take an unresolved complaint to your provider's alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme six weeks after you first raised it with the provider. If the provider sends a written deadlock letter saying it can't resolve the dispute, you can go straight away. The two Ofcom-approved schemes, CISAS and the Communications Ombudsman, are free to use.