GiffGaff outage: Here’s why the network keeps going down and how to fix it

GiffGaff customers across the UK are being warned to expect minor disruption to their services as the company rolls out upgrades across the network.

The planned downtime is to allow GiffGaff to improve its data services and only data services will be affected. The rest of the network (calls and texts) will continue to operate as normal and the downtime will be temporary.

The work is needed to correct a fix with a recent redirect. Earlier this year, GiffGaff redirected older, outdated internet settings, known as APNs, to make it possible for people running these incorrect web settings to still use data on their phones.

“Unfortunately, we have noticed that the redirect we have implemented does not work abroad,” explained GiffGaff, “so we’re implementing a fix”. This will mean that those members who do not have the correct settings will get them automatically updated the next time they restart their phone.

This process began on 12 July and is running until the middle of August between 5am and 9pm on select days. Each customer is being sent an email or a text message at least 24 hours before their phone will be affected by this downtime.

If, during these times and dates, you lose access to your data, GiffGaff recommends turning your phone on and off again for the update to take place. If you experience problems outside of these times, or restarting your phone doesn’t fix the issue, contact GiffGaff customer support. You can also use Down Detector to establish if GiffGaff is down for just you, or is a wider problem.