Why Does My Internet Keep Disconnecting? Causes and Fixes
Quick answer
Drops live in one of three places: the Wi-Fi link, your equipment, or the line to your provider. Two questions find which — does it still drop with a cable, and does every device drop at the same time? Fix the layer the answers point at, and keep a simple log to convince your provider if it's the line.
What counts as "keeps disconnecting"
Every connection blips occasionally — one brief drop a week is normal and not worth chasing. A pattern is worth chasing: the Wi-Fi icon reconnecting every evening, calls that cut out mid-sentence several times a week, games that lag out while web pages still load, or a router that needs restarting every few days.
Notice that some drops hide themselves. Browsers quietly retry, so a two-second outage looks like a slow page. Calls, games and video streams can't retry live data, which is why the people who notice drops first are usually the ones gaming or on calls — even when everyone in the house experiences them.
The two questions that find the layer
Before changing anything, answer these — they sort almost every dropping connection into its layer:
| What you see | Likely layer |
|---|---|
| Drops on Wi-Fi, one device only | That device's Wi-Fi (drivers, power saving) |
| Drops on Wi-Fi, all devices at once | Router's wireless side |
| Drops even with a cable | Router, modem or the line |
| Drops mostly in the evening | Congestion or a fault on the provider's network |
| Drops that come and go with the weather | Old copper line letting moisture in |
To answer the cable question properly, connect a computer to the router with an Ethernet cable for an evening and note whether the drops still happen. Then run the speed test right after a drop — a result much lower than usual, or a test that won't finish, is more evidence for your log.
Fixes for the Wi-Fi layer
- Move closer or move the router. Drops at the far end of the home are usually signal, not the line. A central, raised, open spot beats a cupboard or a corner behind the TV.
- Use the 5 GHz network in the rooms near the router — it carries more and interferes less — and keep 2.4 GHz for distance. If your router combines both under one name ("band steering") and devices cling to the slow band, split them into separate names.
- Turn off Wi-Fi power saving on the dropping device. Laptops and phones sometimes put the wireless adapter to sleep between transfers to save battery, and some wake up too late. On Windows this is a power-plan setting for the adapter; on phones, keep the device plugged in or drop battery-saver while testing.
- Update the wireless driver. An old driver is the usual suspect when one laptop drops while every phone in the house stays connected.
- Reduce interference. Microwaves, baby monitors and neighbours' networks all share the 2.4 GHz band. More fixes: how to improve Wi-Fi speed at home.
Fixes for the equipment layer
- Restart properly — unplug the router (and separate modem) for 30 seconds rather than rebooting from the admin page. Routers accumulate state that only a power cycle clears. More: how to restart a router.
- Check the temperature. A router in a hot cabinet or one covered in dust drops connections as it overheats. Give it airflow; if it's hot to the touch, move it.
- Update the firmware from the admin page or app. Long-lived bugs that cause drops are regularly fixed in firmware updates.
- Reseat the cables. Unscrew and refit the coax or check the DSL and Ethernet leads between wall, modem and router — a half-seated connector makes an intermittent connection by definition.
- Suspect old or failing hardware. Routers and power supplies wear out; a unit that's run for years and now drops daily is a candidate for replacement, especially if it's also slow. If the router reboots itself (all lights flash), that's the hardware, not the line.
Fixes for the line layer
When a cable-connected computer still drops, the problem is outside your home. Check your provider's service-status page first — if there's a known fault, the fix is patience. If not:
- Read the modem's event log. In the admin page, look for entries repeating at the times of your drops — line sync losses on DSL, or "LOS"/"partial service" on cable. Note the words; your provider's support recognises them.
- Keep a drop log for a few days: date, time, how long, what you were doing, and whether the lights on the router changed. A pattern ("every evening 8–10 pm", "whenever it rains") points at congestion or the line far better than a single complaint.
- Report it with the log. Say what you've already ruled out — cable test, restarts, other devices — and ask for a line check. Recurring sync losses usually need an engineer.
Drops versus slow — different problems
If pages load eventually and video just drops to lower quality, that's slowness, not disconnection — start with why is my internet so slow. If the connection shows as connected but nothing loads at all, that's a different fault again: Wi-Fi connected but no internet. This guide is for the third case: the link itself coming and going. And if the connection holds but crawls every evening, that's congestion: why is my internet slow at night.