If you’ve got a blinking red light on your router, there’s something wrong with your connection. Depending on the brand of router, the red light can mean a few different things, but for the most part, it indicates an issue connecting to the internet. Some but not all routers have a single light for all notifications with others offering multiple lights for a variety of statuses. Things are also a bit different if you get your router from your ISP, such as an Xfinity or T-Mobile gateway.
Check the app
Modern routers are pretty smart and software has been improving to the point that, most of the time, the router can tell you what’s wrong in plain English. If your device can still connect to the router, log in to your router to see if any error messages are being displayed. You should be able to connect to the router even if it doesn’t have an internet connection.
Similarly, you can try connecting in a web browser. This can sometimes be easier because you can connect to the router using Ethernet if Wi-Fi isn’t connecting. If the software isn’t so user-friendly, you can find a log of errors in the administration or system section of your router’s software. The logs can be hard to read, but even if you don’t understand them, they can be useful if you end up needing to speak to support.
Router-modem combos and gateways
Whether you get it from your ISP or you bought your own router-modem combo, called a gateway, the added functions mean an error light could indicate multiple things. If you’ve recently lost power, there’s a chance your internet connection is still in the process of reconnecting. Reconnecting a cable or 5G modem that’s lost power can take several minutes as both the ISP and router need to communicate with one another.
If your modem fails to reconnect after ten minutes or so, check to make sure the cable line is properly plugged in. If you’re using 5G, you’ll need to be in an area with a strong signal. The cable coaxial line should be securely screwed in where it plugs into the wall and where it plugs into the router. It’s easy to knock these plugs loose while moving furniture or by tripping over the line, so make sure that everything fits securely and isn’t bent. If you’ve just moved apartments or had the walls painted, it’s not uncommon for painters to lazily go right over coaxial connectors. Make sure your plug isn’t covered in paint or debris or else you may not get a reliable connection.
You can talk to customer service to see if your modem is visible on their end, which means it’s getting a proper connection. Customer service will also be able to tell you if there’s line work happening upstream from your home which may be causing an intermittent connection.
If the lines are good, one of your best bets is to unplug the gateway for a few minutes and then simply plug it back in. This allows the modem to go through the entire process again and could resolve the issue. If you contact customer service or use your carrier’s app, you may also be able to send a refresh signal to the modem, though, as long as the ISP sees it that is.
Standalone routers
If you’ve bought your own router, LED light codes can mean any number of things. Head to your router’s support site and download the manual, which should explain the error lights. For example, on the TP-Link Archer AXE300 I commonly use for testing, a blinking red light indicates that there’s no internet connection and the Wi-Fi is off, while a solid red light indicates that just the internet connection is bad.
On a standalone router, the internet connection comes from a modem, ONT, or other source in the form of an Ethernet cable. This Ethernet cable can’t be plugged into just any port and needs to go into a WAN-enabled port. WAN stands for wide area network, referring to the network outside your home. This will often be a different color or set off to the side a bit. Look for either a WAN label or something like a globe to indicate internet. Some routers, like Eero, have auto-sensing ports that can work as either WAN or LAN (local area network) but may need a restart if you switch it after it has been powered on.
For the most part, a red light indicates that this incoming WAN connection either isn’t connected or isn’t getting an IP from your modem. It’s often recommended that if you need to restart either your modem or router, you restart both at the same time so they can properly reconnect.
If your router has multiple indicator lights next to some symbols, you can figure out exactly where the problem lies. This will typically include a power indicator, a WAN indicator for the internet connection, a light for each Wi-Fi band, and a light for each LAN port.
If you’ve got a problem on your Wi-Fi bands, make sure they’re enabled in your router’s software. Keep in mind that if you’re using DFS frequencies on your 5GHz, the router will need to scan for a few minutes before starting up the connection. If you’ve got a red light on one of your Ethernet ports, try a different cable or device on that port.
Mesh systems
If you have a mesh Wi-FI system, only one of your mesh routers will be directly connected to the internet with a wire. The rest connect to that primary router using Wi-Fi or Ethernet. If those mesh routers lose connection to the primary router, they could show a red light. First, make sure your primary router is connected and working. The mesh routers may have only lost their connections temporarily while the main router applied a software update or lost power for some other reason.
If your mesh routers aren’t reconnecting and the primary router is online, restarting them could be all that’s needed. If restarting doesn’t work, check your mesh Wi-Fi app to see if any of your mesh points are detected. If they’re not showing up and a restart doesn’t fix it, you may need to reset them and add them back into your mesh.
Make sure the light is red, not amber
Typically, networking equipment uses green and amber lights for connected devices. For example, on the LAN ports, many routers use green to show a gigabit connection with amber used for 100Mbps connections. Amber doesn’t necessarily indicate an error. If you’ve got an Arris modem or router, for example, a blinking amber light is shown when a firmware update is being applied.
If you get your router from your ISP and haven’t been able to get your gateway or router working with basic troubleshooting, it’s time to contact support. ISP-provided equipment is often simplified to make it more user-friendly, and may not give you the options you need to diagnose your own issue. With a lot of newer gateways, the support tech can see what’s going on with your equipment and may even be able to make changes to fix the issue. Most importantly, if your hardware is faulty or has gone bad over time, you’ll need to speak to support anyway to get it replaced.
Support from router manufacturers can vary quite a bit with some even offering a premium support option for subscribed customers. Eero and Netgear, for example, offer an upgraded support option for their Netgear Armor and Eero Secure customers. Regardless, they should be able to tell you precisely what your error light means and how you could fix it. They can also process a replacement or a repair if the hardware is faulty.