Most Verizon customers won’t have to deal with yellow lights regularly, which means they can be a bit perplexing when they appear. While a yellow light might indicate a problem with your connection, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be without internet for a significant time. Often you can fix the issues a yellow light indicates with a few easy steps.
What Does a Yellow Light Mean?
A yellow light on a Verizon router means there’s some kind of problem with the service. The internet isn’t being delivered as it should be, even if you can still get a connection on your PC. However, most users with a yellow light may find they have to do any online troubleshooting on their phones since devices using Wi-Fi probably won’t connect during that status.
A solid yellow light means that you need to start digging into the root of the problem so you can restore your Verizon internet service.
What Causes Verizon Router Yellow Light?
A blinking yellow light doesn’t necessarily indicate a problem with your internet connection. Instead, it can measure how well connected you are to your internet range extender. The faster it blinks, the better the link – but that doesn’t mean it’s set up right.
The blinking yellow should get faster as you move the extender in range. Once it’s close, the light will go solid until it’s done connecting to the extender. So if you’re in the process of setting up a range extender and that’s when you’re seeing the yellow light – just move the extender closer until the flashing stops.
Once everything is solid, just wait for the light to turn white, and it will be paired with the extender.
How to Fix a Verizon Router with a Yellow Light
Before troubleshooting your router, ensure the problem is on your end and not with Verizon. Sometimes the light will turn yellow because an accident or weather-related incident caused the service to stop. Other times, Verizon is upgrading and repairing the network, leading to a temporary outage.
Most problems solvable at home will require a hard or soft reset of the router itself unless you’re experiencing a hardware issue that requires new equipment.
Check Your Connection Status
Before troubleshooting your router, check with Verizon to see whether the network works.
- Sign in to My Verizon, your online account management site.
- Check the top of the screen for any pop-up service alerts. In the case of an emergency, Verizon may not know yet about the problem. In that case, you could still have some kind of negative status preventing the connection, but the alert wouldn’t be visible.
- Open Chat and type “network outage” without quotes.
- Press Enter. Follow the prompts to get more information about a possible outage or at least report that you have one.
If there’s no issue with your connection, it’s more likely the problem is at home. Your next step should be to try to fix your hardware so that you can get back online.
Soft Reset the Router
Soft resetting your Verizon router means ending the connection and then reestablishing it. Nothing changes in your router or network settings.
- Unplug the router and modem from the wall. You want to completely disable their power so that they have a chance to grab a completely new connection. Waiting a bit before plugging them in is beneficial, so walk away for five or ten minutes to do something before returning to finish.
- Plug in the modem. Watch for the lights to appear and settle into their standard patterns. If there are problems with the connection on the modem, it will prevent the router from working properly and could cause the appearance of a yellow light. When the lights indicate the modem is ready, proceed.
- Plug in the router and reconnect it to the modem, if necessary. Watch the light to see whether the yellow one appears. Even if it does, wait a bit to see whether it disappears once the connection is established.
Each device may take a few minutes to fully connect to the network. Don’t rush the process by plugging in the router before the modem is up and running. Doing so might cause you to have to repeat the steps.
You won’t have to unplug two devices if you have a combination modem and router. Instead, you’ll just perform these steps on the setup you have. The principle is the same no matter what configuration you’re using.
Check Your Cables
Sometimes networking cables are a hidden source of network issues. The cable that connects your router to your modem – or the cable connecting the modem to the wall – could be the suspect causing the yellow light.
If you have compatible cables lying around, try using them in place of the original wires. You can perform the steps to soft reset the router and modem again. This time, though, replace the cables before plugging everything back in.
If the yellow light goes away and the router appears to be working again, a damaged cable may have been at fault. Throw away the old one and plan to get a replacement if you can’t use the cable you plugged in for testing.
Hard Reset the Router
Sometimes your router’s configuration is what prevents it from connecting to the network. Doing a hard reset that wipes any personal changes and returns it to its factory state can help restore service when these changes are the cause of the yellow light.
However, you will have to restore any changes you made in the router’s online settings. It requires signing into the portal for your Verizon router and repeating any steps you did the first time around. For example, if you had the router set up to log activity or prioritize service, these steps must be repeated after the hard reset.
If there’s any chance the yellow light is caused by a service outage on Verizon’s end, wait to do the hard reset, so you don’t have to reconfigure the router for nothing.
- Find something small enough to enter the reset slot on the back of your Verizon router. Generally, people use the end of a blunt needle or an unbent paperclip arm.
- Locate the slot on the back of your router. It will be tiny with a button inside.
- Press the needle or paperclip arm into the slot until it presses the button down. Hold it down for 15 seconds, counting each one off slowly.
- Release the button and wait for the router to reconnect to the Verizon network. Once it’s connected, you’ll be able to see whether the yellow light has disappeared.
If the yellow light is still there and you’ve verified there are no service outages, reach out to Verizon. A service technician may be able to help you figure out exactly why your service isn’t working correctly.
Check Your ONT
Sometimes you can get a bit more information about the problem you’re facing if you check Verizon’s ONT. This is the box they route service through and may be located outside the house, in the basement, or in another location. If you aren’t sure whether you have an accessible one, you can talk to a Verizon tech.
Some users recommend hard resetting the ONT by unplugging it from its power supply or pressing the reset button. If you’re comfortable with networking devices and know where to access the ONT, this is another solution that might fix the yellow light on your Verizon router.
However, if you have to unlock a box or unscrew anything to access it, it’s better to reach out to Verizon and get help.
What if I Use My Own Router?
Many customers choose not to use Verizon’s router when they sign up for service. As long as the router you choose is supported by Verizon and rated for your select speed, it should work to deliver internet to your house.
If you use a different model router, the yellow light might mean something else entirely. Each manufacturer and model has its own setup with its own set of indicative lights. Check the manual for your device if you aren’t using a router direct from Verizon. The yellow light you see could mean something entirely different.
