In the last hour or so, people worldwide have been reporting issues connecting to Netflix and a strange “tvq-pb-101” error message as the app says it is checking the network connection but fails. Given the service's global availability and huge subscriber base, minor outages are common, but what we're seeing on Monday night is different. Here at The Verge, some of us are able to stream without any problem, while others are getting the same error message and code that other users have complained about.
Netflix has confirmed that engineers are working to restore service, as its status page has now been updated to note that “you may experience issues streaming titles on any device,” after insisting that in the first two hours of the outage everything was fine.
The “Checking network connection” error message that many Netflix users see. Image: Amrita Khalid
Downdetector shows that reports of an outage started coming in around 5:00 p.m. ET, and we saw people discussing their streaming issues on X, Threads, Reddit, and other platforms. Reports of devices having issues include Roku smart TVs and many others, as well as people trying to stream via PS5 and Xbox, from cities across the US and various countries.
There are no similar complaints about other services or identified problems with cloud services such as Google or Amazon's servers.
If you can't connect, there's no workaround at the moment, although problems accessing your TV shows and movies are becoming all the more frustrating as prices for subscription streaming services continue to rise.
Update December 11, 7:45 p.m. ET: Noted response and update to Netflix's status page regarding the ongoing outage.