Durham, North Carolina Internet Outage Today
Live Durham internet outage reports and how households here get online.
Weather data by Open-Meteo.com
No internet outage reports in Durham, North Carolina in the last 24 hours
The most recent internet outage report from Durham came in on September 16, 2026. Over the past 90 days, Durham residents filed 2 internet outage reports here on 1 separate day.
Internet access in Durham
Wired service is unusually common in Durham: 83.7% of households have cable, fiber or DSL, against 75.6% nationally.
6 home internet providers reach at least 5% of the city's 151,544 homes. Satellite service is excluded. Source: FCC National Broadband Map, December 2025 data.
- Broadband subscription: 93.7% of 126,550 households (North Carolina 90.1%, US 91%). Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024 (table S2801)
- Fiber to the home: available at 70.2% of 151,544 homes (US 55.9%). Gigabit plans: 74%. Cable: 92.8%.
- Home internet providers filing coverage here: Spectrum (96% of homes), AT&T (73% of homes), Frontier (55% of homes), Google Fiber (45% of homes). 5G home or mobile coverage: 97.8% of the city area. Source: FCC National Broadband Map, Dec 2025 data
- Rank: 3rd of 10 North Carolina cities we track (Cary highest at 96.6%, Winston-Salem lowest at 88.4%).
- Cable, fiber or DSL: 83.7%. Cellular data only: 8.1% (US 11.5%). Wired lines are more common here than nationally.
- No internet subscription: 6.3%. No computer or smartphone: 2.6%. Source: US Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024 (table S2801)
- Grid reliability, 2024: Duke Energy customers averaged 1,803 minutes without power. Outages that long outlast the batteries in street-side cable and fiber cabinets. Source: EIA Form 861, 2024 reliability data
- Durham County storm record since 2015: 190 reports; power outages named in 25 episodes. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database
Source: Census ACS 2020–2024.
Source: FCC National Broadband Map, December 2025 data.
Durham is 3rd of 6 nearby cities on this measure. Source: Census ACS 2020–2024.
| City | Widest wired provider | Fiber | Gigabit plans | No internet subscription |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Durham, NC | Spectrum (96%) | 70.2% | 74% | 6.3% |
| Cary, NC | AT&T (96%) | 83.5% | 87% | 3.4% |
| Raleigh, NC | Spectrum (94%) | 73.2% | 74.6% | 5.3% |
| Greensboro, NC | Spectrum (94%) | 60% | 61.6% | 9% |
| High Point, NC | Spectrum (93%) | 85.2% | 86.4% | 9% |
Source: FCC National Broadband Map, December 2025 data; Census ACS 2020–2024.
Checked September 2026.
Internet providers in Durham
Share of Durham homes each provider reported it can serve, in FCC filings for December 2025: Spectrum (96%), T-Mobile Home Internet (83%), Verizon (78%), AT&T (73%), and Frontier (55%). Check your own address on the FCC National Broadband Map. If the lights are out too, see Durham power outages.
Router checks: internet outage guide. Nationwide: US internet outages.
Who to check first in Durham
The providers with the widest reported coverage in Durham. Start with the one on your bill.
Spectrum in Durham
Reach: reports service to 96% of Durham homes. Network: Cable, run by Charter Communications.
Where to check: Sign in to the My Spectrum app or spectrum.net; outages at your address show on the account page.
AT&T in Durham
Reach: reports service to 73% of Durham homes. Network: Fiber, DSL/IPBB and AT&T Internet Air (fixed wireless), run by AT&T.
Where to check: Use AT&T's outage check in the Smart Home Manager app or on att.com after signing in.
Support: 800-288-2020
Frontier in Durham
Reach: reports service to 55% of Durham homes. Network: Fiber and DSL, run by Frontier Communications.
Where to check: Sign in to the MyFrontier app or frontier.com to check for outages at your address.
Backup internet options in Durham
Spectrum (96% of homes) and AT&T (73%) each report service to more than half of Durham homes. At an address that can get both, they run on separate lines.
Home 5G and fixed-wireless plans from T-Mobile Home Internet (83%) and Verizon (78%) report coverage of Durham homes (Verizon’s figure combines Fios fiber and 5G Home). They run over cell towers rather than cable or fiber, so they can work when a wired network is down. Cell coverage by area is 100% for 4G LTE and 97.8% for 5G.
About 8.1% of Durham households, roughly 10,300 homes, get online only through a cell plan. For them a mobile outage is an internet outage.
Fiber networks in Durham
Besides the statewide providers, Durham has fiber service that most cities do not:
- Google Fiber. Google Fiber sells fiber internet in parts of Durham. Its service status and outage notices are in the Google Fiber app and at fiber.google.com, and it does not share equipment with the cable or phone company.
A fiber network runs on separate lines, so an outage on one provider in Durham does not mean the others are down.
Power and weather behind internet outages in Durham
Duke Energy customers averaged 1,803 minutes without power in 2024, across 1.69 interruptions each, against 1,441 minutes for North Carolina as a whole. Cable nodes and fiber cabinets run on batteries that last hours, not days, so a long power cut can take internet down even for homes whose own power has returned. See Durham power outages when both go out together.
Durham County logged 190 storm reports since 2015, most often thunderstorm wind, flash flood, and hail. Reports peak in June. Power outages were named in 25 of those storm episodes. Wind, ice and flooding damage poles and buried lines, which is how a storm turns into an internet outage as well as a power outage.
Fiber reports reach 70.2% of Durham homes, cable 92.8% and copper lines 31%. Where fiber runs to the home, a red or blinking LOS light on the optical terminal points to a line problem that a restart will not fix.
Durham internet outage questions
Does a cell network outage take down home internet in Durham?
For the 8.1% of Durham households that rely only on a mobile data plan, yes. The 83.7% with cable, fiber or DSL are not affected.
What can I use for internet in Durham when my provider is down?
A phone hotspot: 4G LTE covers 100% of Durham by area and 5G 97.8%. Home 5G plans: T-Mobile Home Internet (83%) and Verizon (78%). Where both Spectrum and AT&T are available, the second wired line is a backup.
Can a power outage take internet down in Durham?
Yes, a long power cut can. Duke Energy customers averaged 1,803 minutes without power in 2024. NOAA records name power outages in 25 storm episodes in Durham County since 2015.
Is fiber or gigabit internet available in Durham?
Fiber is reported at 70.2% of Durham homes (US 55.9%, North Carolina 58.9%), and plans of 1 Gbps or faster at 74% (US 69.2%).
How many Durham households have no home internet?
About 8,000 of 126,550 households, or 6.3%, have no internet subscription of any kind, and another 8.1% rely only on a cell plan (Census ACS 2020–2024).
Which internet provider covers the most homes in Durham?
Spectrum, at 96% of homes in its FCC filing. Fiber reaches 70.2% of Durham homes and gigabit plans 74%.
ISP outage status for Durham
Recent internet reports in Durham
- Internet reports in Durham, last 24h
- 0
- Most recent internet report here
- September 16, 2026
- Internet reports across North Carolina, last 24h
- 0
- City population
- 278,993
Other outage types in Durham
Internet Outages in cities near Durham
- Cary, NC 15 mi
- Raleigh, NC 21 mi
- Greensboro, NC 50 mi
- High Point, NC 62 mi
- Fayetteville, NC 65 mi
- Winston-Salem, NC 76 mi
Report counts are user-submitted; other figures name their official source. How our data works
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