Comcast Xfinity Blames 'Network Issue' For Massive Internet Outage Across Chicago Area And The U.S.

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A massive Comcast outage left people scrambling to find internet service to get online to do their jobs on Tuesday.

The outage for Comcast's Xfinity internet service affected tens of thousands of customers across the country, including in the Chicago area. It was particularly troublesome for people who are still working from home.

The company's support page on Twitter has been flooded with complaints about outages, and the website Downdetector reported more than 54,000 outages for Xfinity, including in the Chicago area, as of 7:45 a.m.

By 9:15 a.m., internet service appeared to have been restored for many customers, with the number of reported outages down to about 4,000, according to Downdetector.

In a statement later Tuesday morning on Twitter, the company said the outage was the result of a "network issue."

"We have addressed the issue and service is now restoring for impacted customers, as we continue to investigate the root cause. We apologize to those who were affected," the company said.

There's one thing you definitely need if you're working from home: Wi-Fi. When the Wi-Fi at your house fails you, you might have to scramble to find a café or library with free service.

Off the Wall Café in northwest suburban Park Ridge was packed with customers typing away on their keyboards, eyes on their screens, as people rushed to find a place to work when their Xfinity internet service went out at home.

"When I tried to call in, there was a long wait time, so I wasn't actually able to get in touch with a live operator," Byron Neil said.

"We have a group Chatter page. Everybody started posting that their Wi-Fi was down," Susie Dordek said.

The problem actually started on Monday for Dordek. She thought it was a simple glitch that would resolve itself.

But with the additional Comcast outage on Tuesday, she found herself at the café on a day when Wi-Fi is crucial for her job.

"My company does live meetings and events. And so we're hosting a virtual event this morning. Had to jump in, come here, throw on a hat, get my computer up and running and pray for the best," she said.

Folks at Off the Wall Café said it's been a busy morning, with the phones rimging off the hook and callers asking the same question.

"We've had a lot of calls; so much that we can just change our standard greeting to 'Off the Wall, where the coffee is hot and the Wi-Fi is working,'" said barista Megan Linse.

While it's likely good for business, most of the busy faces in the café will tell you they'd just like they get their own Wi-Fi back up and running.

"Nowadays we kind of all depend on the internet. So I would say it's really frustrating. It's obviously a little difficult to take calls in a coffee shop," Neil said.

Staff at Off the Wall said sales were up about 20 percent on Monday, the same day many Comcast customers were having Wi-Fi issues. It could be the same story on Tuesday.

Xfinity has not issued an official statement on its website or social media accounts, and representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.

Many customers took to Twitter to vent their frustration.