Is Starlink down? How to check, and what to do

Most Starlink problems are local: an obstruction, a loose cable, a dish rebooting. Network-wide outages are rare. Here is how to tell which one you have in about two minutes.

Before anything else, run a quick speed test. If it fails or shows almost nothing, the problem is the connection, not the app.

How to check if Starlink is down

1. Open the Starlink app. It works over your local Wi-Fi even when the internet is down. The home screen shows the dish and router status, and names the reason if you are offline, including when Starlink itself reports an outage.
2. Read the outage log. In the app, or in a browser at 192.168.100.1 or dishy.starlink.com while connected to your Starlink Wi-Fi, the Statistics page lists recent drops and their likely cause: obstruction, no signal received, or network issue.
3. Check Downdetector. A sharp jump in reports in the last hour means many people are affected. The heat map shows whether it is regional.
4. Check your account. Signed in at support.starlink.com, any known alerts for your service address appear on the dashboard.
5. Check r/Starlink. During a real outage the subreddit fills with posts within minutes. Sort by new.

What the app is telling you

Fixes that work

• Restart it. Unplug the router or power supply for 30 seconds and plug it back in. The dish needs a few minutes to find satellites again.
• Check the cable. Make sure it is seated firmly at the dish and the router, and look for kinks or chew marks.
• Clear the sky view. The app's obstruction map shows red where something is in the way. A few feet higher often fixes it. Our Starlink setup guide covers placement.
• Snow and ice. The dish melts light snow on its own. Heavy buildup on the dish or around it can block the signal.
• Test on Ethernet. If a wired device works and Wi-Fi does not, the problem is your Wi-Fi coverage, not Starlink. See mesh vs. extenders.
• Contact support in the app if none of this works and there is no reported outage.

How often does Starlink go down?

System-wide outages are rare. The largest recent one, in July 2025, took the service offline worldwide for about two and a half hours and drew more than 61,000 reports on Downdetector within hours. Short drops of a few seconds, from obstructions or satellite handoffs, are far more common and show up in the outage log.

Staying online during an outage

If you work from home, a second connection is cheaper than a lost day. A phone hotspot covers a few hours. For more, a 5G home internet plan runs on a completely separate network, and our backup internet guide compares the low-cost options. Prepaid phone plans such as Visible (partner link) include hotspot data.

Links marked as partner links may earn ShopHighSpeed a commission, at no cost to you.

For texting with no signal at all, T-Mobile's T-Satellite works on most recent phones for $10/mo. It runs on Starlink's phone satellites, which are separate from the home internet network. More in Starlink Mobile explained.

If outages are frequent and you have other options, compare plans in Starlink vs. cable or Starlink vs. HughesNet vs. Viasat. For outages with any provider, see what to do when your internet is down.

Questions