22 APR 2025

When the Wi-Fi Waves Goodbye: A Survival Guide for Fibre Broadband Blackouts

The dreaded broadband outage – the modern equivalent of being stranded on a desert island. One minute, life is humming along, and the next, the Wi-Fi drops. Suddenly, it’s like 1995 all over again. Your kids are grappling with the unimaginable horrors of dial-up speeds and actual conversations. It’s a dark moment for the modern household.

But before you furiously dial up our contact centre, take a deep breath. Let’s walk through some troubleshooting steps that might save you time, hassle, and the inevitable hold music.

1. Check for any planned or known outages

First things first, is it really an outage or is your modem just being dramatic? Assuming you’ve got mobile data coverage, the easiest way is to check Contact’s Facebook page or Website to see if we’ve been told there is an outage in your area. If we confirm the outage, there is nothing you need to do. Leave your modem on so we can get you back connected as soon as possible. 

For fibre connections, it’s also worth checking your local fibre provider’s website for planned maintenance or known outages:

• Chorus (most of NZ)
• Enable (Christchurch) 
• North Power Fibre (Whangarei) 
• Tuatahi Fibre (Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki) Contact will be notified of any outages in these areas. In this instance please call us on 0800 641 502 to confirm if there is a fault or outage.

2. Check your modem wiring and lights

You’ve confirmed it’s not a known outage. Maybe your modem is having a diva moment. Here’s what to do.

Check your wiring matches the wiring in your modem user guide. If it’s a spaghetti disaster, untangle and reconnect things properly. Don’t have your modem user guide? Don’t worry we’ve got you covered.

• Contact branded: User Guide
• Huawei modem: User Guide

If you’re on fibre, check your ONT (the white box fixed to your wall) to ensure the lights are on as below.

If any of the ONT lights don’t look right, check the cables are securely connected as below. Give them a firm push, but not too hard. We’re troubleshooting, not wrestling.

3. Reboot your ONT (fibre connections only) and modem

Sometimes all your devices need is a little reboot to get their act together.

Unplug the power supply to your ONT for 10 seconds. Reconnect the device and check that the ‘power’ light on your ONT is green. Give it a moment to wake up.

While its rebooting, take a breath and show your modem some love. Switch it off at the wall, wait 30 seconds and switch it back on. After 5 minutes, test to see if your connection has been restored.

4. Manually set up your modem

If your modem is still refusing to cooperate, it might need a manual setup. Follow this guide to set up your fibre modem.

Tried everything and still no joy? It’s time to call the calvary. Reach out to us on 0800 641 502 and we’ll help you diagnose the issue. Whether it’s a stubborn modem or something more complex, we’ll get to the bottom of it.