NetBlocks monitors and reports on internet disruptions around the world. Its reports can help you understand whether a wider network problem has been observed. They are not a live diagnosis of your home router, and a missing report does not prove your own connection is working.
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What does NetBlocks do?
NetBlocks describes its work as global internet monitoring across digital rights, cybersecurity and internet governance. Its Our Work page explains that scope, while the main website links to published reports and projects.
Use a report as evidence about the network, place, service and time it actually covers. Do not turn a headline about one network into a claim that an entire country has lost every kind of internet access.
How to read an outage report
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Date, time and time zone | An old incident can look current when its screenshot is shared again. |
| Location and networks measured | A local or provider-specific disruption can differ from a national one. |
| Service or connection affected | One app being unreachable is different from losing general connectivity. |
| What was measured | A drop in connectivity shows a change; the explanation needs supporting evidence. |
| Later updates | A recovery, correction or narrower finding may change the first picture. |
For example, if your laptop alone cannot connect but another device on the same network works, that is a useful local clue. It should not be described as a confirmed national outage simply because a news report discusses one elsewhere.
What is the Cost of Shutdown Tool?
The Cost of Shutdown Tool, or COST, produces rough estimates of the economic impact of internet disruptions using economic indicators and published methods. It is a modelling tool, not a counter reading every affected business’s actual losses.
When sharing an estimate, keep the selected country, duration, type of disruption, currency and model information with it. Changing those inputs can change the result. A calculated figure should not be presented as a verified bill, compensation amount or exact total loss for every user.
Is NetBlocks an internet speed test or complete outage map?
It serves a different purpose from a speed test on your device or a provider’s support page. A speed test concerns your connection at a moment in time. A NetBlocks report can provide wider context, with the limits of its own measurements. No single source covers every connection or proves every possible cause.
What to do if your own internet stops working
- Check another website and another device.
- Compare Wi-Fi with a wired connection if possible.
- Check your provider’s status information and contact support when needed.
- Use wider reports for context if several networks or services are affected.
For problems that change when you move around the house, see our router placement and antenna guide. Our internet-outage explainer covers other causes worth separating from a weak wireless signal.