When local internet went down I couldn't use mobile data.

[DBM1151]

Our local Spectrum cable and internet went down. I tried to use mobile data on my Galaxy S21 but it wouldn't work either. Do Verizon sites depend on local internet providers for mobile data on a cell tower site?

[CCinTX]

Hello - my zip code is 78669. My Verizon phone services restored simultaneously when my Spectrum internet service was restored. To be clear, my issue, my concern, and what I want resolved, has nothing to do with how my phone is behaving today. I want answers as to what happened on 7/9 and why I lost all Verizon phone services simultaneously when Spectrum went down that day because I'm not interested in a repeat of the situation. Thank you in advance for reading this and providing the answers I seek.

[SynthpopAddict]

@CCinTX, no worries, and apology accepted.  Thanks for the post! 😃

As for why all your services and not just internet went out when Spectrum went down...there's a number of factors in play.  Spectrum is not letting on exactly what happened, but based upon how the outage affected so many people regardless of what provider they have - it's apparent to me that there must be a major hub for the internet which routes data requests in Texas which many but not all ISPs are using.  This hub must be somewhere in/around Houston or in east Texas, as the outage was blamed on hurricane damage.  With Spectrum either managing or owning (don't know which it is or any details on how the global server network which comprises the internet is managed/owned) the majority of internet infrastructure in Texas, when the hub went down, it left most of the state offline.

As for your cellular service on Verizon also completely going out where you couldn't call or text either, if the tower(s) your phone usually connects to were in a power outage related to the hurricane, not all towers have a backup power supply if the electricity goes out.  In extreme situations such as February 2021's Texas power grid collapse, mobile carriers can deploy "cells on wheels" aka COWS to provide limited calling/texting services.  I'm in central TX and remember that week extremely well, and oddly, the only thing which was working was my cell phone at the time, so Verizon obviously had some COWS out since the electricity was out for days.  If your Verizon service is still fluctuating, either the electricity situation hasn't stabilized, or they have COWS out which will only provide the lowest band 4G and basic texting because the towers in your area got damaged in the hurricane?  Hopefully it's not the towers actually being damaged, as who knows how long it'll take to repair a busted tower.

Verizon's CS...that's another book in itself.  😉   Anyway, sure hope all your services are back up and running.

[CCinTX]

Thank you for the response & the forgiveness 😊

From what I picked up, it sounds like the core in Houston went down due to the hurricane and then the core redundancy in Dallas was affected by someone cutting the fiber line. I get the internet infrastructure is shared by Verizon and Spectrum, but losing all phone services was what was throwing me and had me completely unnerved. I'm about 30 miles west of Austin so weather didn't impact me locally. The only thing that makes sense to me is if my local tower just so happened to be non-functional during Spectrum's outage. I was able to drive 1/2 a mile away from my house and pick up a very weak signal, I'm guessing from the next tower over. So my concern is, if this is in fact what happened, was my local tower down as a result of neglect? And are they working on my local tower so this doesn't happen again? I don't want to have to lean on my wifi to be able to use my phone. I wasn't paying attention before and did rely too much on my home internet to be up which never allowed me to truly see the faults in my Verizon phone service at home. Wifi calling is off and I'm really going to find out what my Verizon phone service is actually like at home. I'm paying attention now and I want solutions from Verizon.