Why is my router blinking orange when it was working yesterday?

The most common overnight causes are: your ISP had a brief outage and the router never re-established the connection, or a power fluctuation reset the modem's DHCP table. Rebooting the modem (not just the router) resolves this in the majority of cases.

Is blinking orange the same as blinking amber on a router?

Yes — router manufacturers use 'orange' and 'amber' interchangeably. The physical LED produces the same yellowish-orange color. Treat them identically when troubleshooting.

My router blinks orange only at night — what's going on?

ISPs often run maintenance and firmware pushes to their network equipment during off-peak hours (typically 1–4 AM). If your router blinks orange briefly at night and recovers by morning, this is normal. If it doesn't recover, your ISP may have changed your connection settings (e.g., pushed a new IP or changed authentication).

Can I use Wi-Fi while the router is blinking orange?

You can connect to the router's Wi-Fi network, but you won't be able to access the internet. Devices will show 'Connected, no internet' or similar. Local network features (shared drives, local streaming) will still work.

My orange light started blinking right after a router firmware update — is that normal?

If you initiated a firmware update from the admin panel, a brief orange blink (2–5 minutes) is normal while the router reboots and re-establishes the WAN connection. If it persists beyond 10 minutes post-update, the update may have introduced a configuration issue — a factory reset and reconfiguration usually resolves it.

Router Blinking Orange Light

Router blinking orange light — what it means, brand differences, and step-by-step fixes for Netgear, TP-Link, Asus, Xfinity, and more.

Slow Blink

orange

Quick info

Device typeRouters & Modems

Colororange

PatternSlow Blink

Blink rate0.5 Hz

Locationfront panel

StateWAN link down or reconnecting

Visual description

You see a single orange or amber LED on the front panel of your router flashing at a steady slow rhythm — approximately once every one to two seconds. The light may be labeled 'Internet', 'WAN', 'Online', or simply be an unlabeled status LED. Some routers show this as a full solid orange rather than blinking; see the Brand Variations section for specifics.

What it means

A blinking orange light on a router almost always indicates that the router is connected to your modem or wall outlet but cannot reach the internet. Think of it as the router repeatedly knocking on the door to the internet and getting no answer. The router has power and your local network (Wi-Fi and wired) may still work, but any device on your network will show 'No Internet' when trying to browse.

The three most common causes are: (1) your ISP is experiencing an outage or is temporarily disconnecting you during maintenance, (2) the cable between your modem and router is loose or faulty, or (3) your router's WAN configuration has drifted — common after a power cut.

On some models this pattern also appears for the first 60–90 seconds after powering on while the router negotiates a DHCP lease from your modem. If the light turns white, blue, or green within two minutes, no action is needed.

Brand & model variations

The same light pattern can mean different things across manufacturers.

Brand / Model	What orange slow blink means	Recommended action
Netgear Nighthawk series	Amber Internet LED = no internet connection. Solid amber = no Ethernet cable detected on WAN port. Blinking amber = cable connected but ISP hasn't assigned an IP address.	Check WAN cable, then reboot modem first, then router.
TP-Link Archer series	Orange WAN LED = router is connected to modem but has no internet. TP-Link uses orange specifically for 'link but no internet' vs. white/green for 'internet active'.	Open TP-Link Tether app → Diagnostics → Internet to see exact failure reason.
Asus RT series	Blue slow blink = normal startup. Orange/amber slow blink on the power or WAN LED = WAN connection failed. Solid red = firmware update failed (different issue).	Check ASUS router app or log in to 192.168.1.1 → WAN status.
Xfinity / Comcast XB6, XB7, XB8 (gateway)	Orange blinking = device is connecting to Xfinity network. If it persists beyond 15 minutes, it indicates a provisioning failure.	Use Xfinity app → Troubleshoot → Restart Gateway. If persistent, call Xfinity — the issue is usually on their end.
Linksys Velop, EA series	Blinking orange = router is in the process of connecting. Solid orange = connection failed after timeout.	Give it 3 minutes. If solid orange persists, factory reset is often faster than troubleshooting.
Google Nest Wifi Nest Wifi / Wifi Pro	Google does not use orange — pulsing yellow means 'no internet'. Orange on a connected Ethernet adapter indicates the port is active.	See 'router pulsing yellow' for Google Nest — different page.

Diagnose your issue

Answer a few questions to narrow down the cause.

Diagnose Your Issue

When did the orange blinking start relative to router activity?

Safe next steps

Ordered from least to most involved. Check each step as you go.

Check if an ISP outage is reported in your area (use your phone's mobile data to visit your ISP's status page or Downdetector).
Inspect the Ethernet cable running from your modem to the WAN port of your router — remove and firmly reinsert both ends.
Reboot your modem: unplug its power cable, wait 30 seconds, plug it back in, and wait 2 minutes for all lights to stabilize.
Reboot your router: unplug its power, wait 30 seconds, plug back in, and wait 2 minutes.
Log in to your router admin panel (typically 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1) and check the WAN status page for a specific error message.
Try replacing the Ethernet cable between the modem and router with a known-good cable.
Check your router's WAN connection type (DHCP, PPPoE, Static IP) matches what your ISP requires — wrong type = perpetual orange.
If none of the above work, perform a factory reset: hold the reset pinhole for 10 seconds, then reconfigure the router from scratch.

When it resolves on its own

Condition: If the cause is an ISP outage or a normal startup negotiation

Expected time: Startup negotiation: 1–3 minutes. ISP outages: varies, but most resolve within 1–4 hours. Firmware update (some models blink orange during update): 3–8 minutes — do not unplug during this.

When to escalate

Stop troubleshooting and contact your ISP or manufacturer if:

Orange light persists after rebooting both modem and router twice.
Your ISP's app shows the gateway/modem is offline — this is their equipment, not yours.
The WAN port on your router doesn't light up at all when the cable is connected — hardware fault.
You have confirmed it's not an ISP outage and a factory reset doesn't fix it.
You're in a new home or new ISP account and can't get the initial connection to work after 30 minutes of troubleshooting.