CUMBERLAND, Indiana — UPDATE: Urmi Patel told 13News reporter Rich Nye that AT&T's internet service was restored in her Cumberland neighborhood Wednesday morning after a six-day outage.
The loss of home internet service is just an inconvenience for some. For those who work from home, it can mean lost wages. 13News discovered many AT&T customers around central Indiana lost their internet service during last week's winter storm, and it's still not restored.
D.S. and Urmi Patel live in the Glen Oaks Village neighborhood in Cumberland. Urmi watched her AT&T U-verse TV system display a “restart receiver” message with a spinning circle in the lower right corner of the screen. Despite several restarts, the display has remained consistent since the home lost AT&T internet service Thursday.
"The TV's gone so we can't watch any other shows either,” said Urmi. “One or two days is fine. But, you know, every day and in this cold weather, there is nothing else to do outside."
The Patels quickly discovered they were not alone. Lots of AT&T customers in their neighborhood lost internet service just a few days before Christmas. Attempts to reach customer support online or by phone have only increased frustration.
“It's inconvenient,” said Urmi. “That we can manage. But nobody is giving us the right answer. Everybody in my neighborhood who calls, they’re all getting the same answer. ‘Your modems not working. Unplug this modem. See if you have a red light.’ How many times we can unplug and plug in?"
13News found customers all over central Indiana — including Noblesville, New Palestine, and the south side of Indianapolis — who lost AT&T internet service before Christmas. Many homes are approaching a week offline.
AT&T provided this statement Tuesday afternoon:
“We’ve made significant progress with our restoration efforts following Winter Storm Elliott and continue to work as quickly and safely as possible until all service is restored. Some customers in affected areas may be experiencing home phone and internet interruptions due to storm damage and commercial power outages. We understand the importance of keeping our customers connected and appreciate their patience.”
Additional:
- Customers experiencing issues with their AT&T service can reach us at att.com, on the myAT&T app or over the phone at 800-288-2020.
- Wireline customers can also visit att.com/outages to sign up for one-time service restoration text alerts.
Urmi Patel's patience is running out. She wants a partial refund of this month’s bill and an explanation.
“What's wrong?” said Urmi. “It's not the equipment. Everybody can't have bad equipment at once."
The red flashing lights on her modem are not the lights she wanted to see for Christmas.