Brinkley Hill
•7/31/2026
LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. (WINK)— More than 5,200 Quantum Fiber customers have been without internet service for 11 full days after neighbors say service dropped on Monday, July 20.
The outage has disrupted work-from-home employees, online students and basic household functions for nearly two weeks. Quantum Fiber's outage map shows six different addresses with outage sizes ranging from more than 100 households impacted to more than 5,200 households.
Maristela Newkirk, a Quantum customer, said the outage is affecting her daughters' education.
"I have a daughter who's in the process of getting started with dual enrollment. She's going into 11th grade as well as college. She can't prepare for exams. She can't study. I have another one who was taking a summer class. She can't turn in her work," Newkirk said.
Newkirk said she does interpreting work through Zoom, making the internet essential for her job. She said other companies do not service her area and she relies on Wi-Fi calling for her cell phone because of spotty service.
Her frustrations mounting with communication from the company.
"It'll be up by tonight. It'll be up by tomorrow morning. And here we are, 12 days later, still no internet whatsoever," Newkirk said.
David Wojnicz, another Quantum customer, said the company has been sending daily text messages promising restoration.
"It's just a constant text. And then when you call the customer service people, they're doing their job, but they're just regurgitating the texts that we're getting, and it's really not getting us nowhere," Wojnicz said.
The outage has affected more than just computers and entertainment. Security cameras and thermostats connected to the internet are also offline.
"It's not just, 'Oh, my Internet's out. I'm bored looking at my phone.' I mean, we all have Ring doorbell cameras. My whole house is covered with cameras for security. We have none of that anymore," Wojnicz said.
Quantum Fiber told WINK News earlier this week that a third-party contractor damaged multiple lengths of fiber optic lines. Customers said they have never been without internet this long, even after hurricanes.
Wojnicz said if Quantum had notified him of a long term outage, he would've changed his plans to be with his 10 year old son more.
"Had I known that this was gonna be this long, I would've scheduled my days, maybe a couple of days to get off work, took him to the beach, you know, keep him busy," Wojnicz said.
Some customers are now switching providers to get back online. Wojnicz said he has scheduled a technician for next week.
"If Quantum comes back up, maybe I'll decide to keep Quantum. If not, I have Xfinity coming in," Wojnicz said.
Other neighbors are paying for Earthlink through cell towers or Starlink through satellite service until Quantum Fiber fixes the damages.
" That's frustrating, feels like gaslighting," said Paula Porter, another Quantum customer drove for 30 minutes to get internet at a local library before ordering Earthlink. "It's affecting people emotionally, psychologically, financially. With the high gas prices if we have to drive somewhere to get access to the internet. "
When asked for more information about how widespread the outage is, an AT&T spokesperson sent WINK News the same statement from earlier this week: "Crews are working as quickly as possible to restore internet service to affected customers in the Lehigh Acres area. We appreciate the patience of our customers as we make these necessary repairs."
"It's been extremely, extremely frustrating," Wojnicz said. "They're gonna have a lot of unhappy customers."
Newkirk said she doesn't understand what damage was so severe it couldn't be fixed in 12 days.
"My children are severely impacted. It's just, get our internet up, for the love of God," Newkirk said.
