The power came back an hour ago. The lights are on, the fridge is humming, and the TV says No Signal. The WiFi light is blinking a color you have never seen before.
This happens after almost every storm in the Keys, and most of the time it is fixed in ten minutes. The trick is the order.
Step one: give it time
When power comes back, your internet company's equipment out on the street is coming back too, and it is slower than your house. Wait twenty minutes before you touch anything. A lot of "outages" fix themselves in that window.
Step two: the modem, then the router
Find the box the cable from the wall goes into. That is the modem. Some homes have one box that does both jobs, and that is fine.
Unplug the modem's power cord. Count to thirty. Plug it back in. Now wait until its lights settle down and stop blinking wildly. This can take three or four minutes, and it feels longer.
If you have a second box (the router), unplug it now, count to thirty, plug it back in, and wait again.
Order matters. The modem has to be awake before the router asks it for anything.
Step three: the TV box
Whatever feeds your TV (a cable box, a streaming stick, a little black box with the provider's name on it), unplug it, count to thirty, and plug it back in. Then, on the TV remote, press Input or Source until the picture comes back.
That Input button is the number one reason a working TV looks broken. A power flicker can knock it to the wrong setting.
Step four: the phone test
Turn WiFi off on your phone, then back on. If it connects, your network is fine and any device still acting up just needs its own restart.
When to stop
If the modem lights are still red or still blinking after ten minutes, the problem is outside your house. Call your internet company, not a tech. Tell them the modem will not lock on after a power outage. They can see it from their end.
If the lights are green and things still do not work, that is the point to call me. We will go through it together on the phone, and if I need to see a screen, I can.
Before the next one
Put a small label on the modem and the router. Modem. Router. Nothing fancy. When the next storm rolls through, you will not be guessing which box is which in the dark.
Call (512) 893-7774. No bots. No runaround. Just real tech help.