Was checking Reddit today and…nothing. Blank page. Got that mini heart attack like when you miss a step walking downstairs.
First thought: “Did my Wi-Fi crap out again?” Happens way too often. Last week’s episode with Netflix buffering still fresh in my mind.
My step-by-step connection autopsy
Step 1: Refresh like your life depends on it. Smashed that refresh button in Chrome. Twice. Three times. Still got that sad little “cannot be reached” message. Not looking good.
Step 2: Try a different site. Opened YouTube in a new tab. Played a cat video. Loaded perfectly fine. Okay, so basic internet connection still alive. Breathing slightly steadied.
Step 3: Phone check. Grabbed my phone off the charger. Still connected to home Wi-Fi. Tapped the Reddit app icon…spinning…spinning…error message pops up. Same as the computer. Bad sign.
Step 4: Mobile data experiment. Turned off Wi-Fi on the phone. Relied on just the mobile bars. Opened Reddit app again. Boom – same spinning icon, then crash. Now genuinely sweating. If both Wi-Fi AND mobile data don’t work? That screams website problems, not me.
Step 5: The Down Detectors. This is my usual sanity checkpoint. Searched “site down checker” in a different browser (didn’t trust Chrome anymore). Found a couple of those service status places. Typed in “*”. Red everywhere. Tons of angry red symbols and charts spiking like crazy. Thousands of reports, not just mine. Big relief washed over. Felt vindicated.
Bonus Step: Checked social buzz. Hopped over to Twitter (on my phone, still using mobile data since Wi-Fi felt cursed now). Searched “reddit down”. Yep, the feed was full of people crying about the same thing. Memes, complaints, the whole circus. Confirmed it wasn’t my router being possessed.
Conclusion & Relaxing (sorta)
Put the phone down. Made coffee. Realized I was stressing over pictures of cats and arguments about video games being unavailable. Kinda funny.
Key takeaways:
- If one site dies: Test others (like boring old Google).
- If mobile data gives same result as Wi-Fi? Major red flag.
- Always verify with status websites or social mentions. Saves time blaming yourself.
Now I just wait. Refreshing once in a while while sipping coffee. Servers break, people yell online, engineers panic. Same ol’ internet. Nothing wrong with my setup this time!
