BT runs over the Openreach network, and although the two are part of the same group they are separate businesses. That distinction shapes almost every BT fault: BT handles you, Openreach handles the line, and the repair timescale is usually Openreach's.
Check BT service status
BT publishes a service status checker on its help site at bt.com/help/service-status. It reports known faults for your area and, if you sign in, against your specific line.
BT also runs a line test that checks your connection remotely. It is more useful than a general area status check, because it can detect a fault on your line alone, which is exactly the case an area checker will miss. If your broadband is down, you will need mobile data to reach it.
Test your BT line
Test over ethernet rather than Wi-Fi. BT quotes a guaranteed minimum speed on its packages, and if you want to hold them to it you need results from a wired connection. A Wi-Fi test measures your house as much as your line, and it is the first thing that will be pointed out if you complain.
BT Smart Hub lights
The Smart Hub tells you what it thinks is wrong through a single light on the front:
- Blue. Working normally. If nothing loads, look inside your home rather than at the network.
- Flashing purple. The Hub cannot connect to the broadband service, often an authentication problem rather than a broken line.
- Flashing orange. Starting up, or in setup mode. Wait a few minutes.
- Red. A fault the Hub has detected. Report it.
Restart the Hub once and give it five full minutes. If the same light returns, restarting again will not change anything.
Is it BT, Openreach, or your home?
Three questions narrow it down quickly.
- Are neighbours on other providers also down? If so it is Openreach infrastructure, and BT is chasing the same repair as everyone else in the street.
- Does a wired laptop work? If yes, the broadband is fine and the problem is your Wi-Fi.
- Does it work in the master socket? Plugging the Hub directly into the master socket, bypassing extension leads and internal wiring, rules out your own cabling. If it works there and not elsewhere, the fault is inside your home, and an engineer visit to find that can be chargeable.
Work out where the problem is before you call
Most people ring their provider first and spend twenty minutes being walked through steps they could have done themselves. Four checks will tell you which of three very different problems you have, and they take about five minutes.
- Check on mobile data. Turn Wi-Fi off on your phone and load a website. If the page loads on mobile data but nothing works on Wi-Fi, the internet is fine and the problem is between your router and your devices.
- Look at the router lights. A router that has lost its connection to the network almost always says so. A red or flashing light usually means the line itself is down. A normal light with no internet usually means the line is up and something else is wrong.
- Try a cable. Plug a laptop straight into the router with an ethernet cable. If the wired connection works and Wi-Fi does not, you have a Wi-Fi problem, not a broadband problem, and no amount of waiting for an outage to clear will fix it.
- Run a speed test. If you are connected but everything is slow, a test tells you whether you are getting a fraction of your normal speed or none at all. That difference matters when you report the fault.
Compensation when your service is down
Under Ofcom's automatic compensation scheme, most large providers pay you for a total loss of service that is not fixed within two full working days of you reporting it. It also covers engineer appointments that are missed or cancelled at short notice, and new connections that start later than promised.
Three things are worth knowing:
- The clock starts when you report it. An outage you never told your provider about does not count, however long it lasted. Report a fault the day you notice it, even if you expect it to fix itself.
- It should be automatic. The payment is meant to appear as a bill credit without you asking. In practice it is worth checking your next bill and chasing it if nothing arrives.
- It covers total loss, not slow speeds. A connection that is working but poor is handled under your provider's speed guarantee instead, which is a separate process.
The daily rates are set by Ofcom and reviewed each year, so check the current figures on Ofcom's automatic compensation page rather than relying on a number quoted elsewhere.
Not every provider is in the scheme. The largest ones are, and several smaller full fibre networks have joined voluntarily, but if yours is not a member you are relying on their own goodwill policy.
If the line is unreliable rather than dead
Intermittent faults are the hardest to get fixed, because the line usually tests clean by the time anyone looks. What works is evidence: log the date and time of each dropout, keep speed test results, and present it as a pattern rather than reporting each incident from scratch. A line that drops daily is a fault, even if every individual test passes.
Our BT Broadband review covers how BT performs on complaints and service alongside its pricing. If you are out of contract, it is worth checking what else reaches your address, particularly if full fibre has arrived in your street since you last looked, as that replaces the copper where most intermittent faults begin.