10 Reasons Your Cox Modem is Blinking Green & How to Fix It

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Diagnose and fix common router problems with this expert guide

Co-authored by Darlene Antonelli, MA Reviewed by Luigi Oppido

Last Updated: April 2, 2025 Fact Checked

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Common Fixes

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Common Causes

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FAQ

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Cox Modem/Gateway Light Chart

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Video

Instead of a green light being good, a blinking green light on a Cox modem means there's an issue syncing up with the internet. Although this sounds like a complicated issue, you might be able to fix it yourself without calling a tech! Read on to learn more.

How to Fix a Cox Modem That's Blinking Green

A blinking green light means the modem is looking for a channel. You can fix this a few ways, like checking for loose or damaged coaxial or power cables, restarting the modem, and updating firmware.

Section 1 of 4:

Common Fixes

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1
Check the cables. The cables should be tightly attached to the wall and your modem; loose coaxial cables can lose data, and a loose power cable can provide insufficient power.
- If there are any splitters between your modem and the coaxial port on your wall, make sure all the cables entering and exiting the split are snugly secured.
- Also check that the pin inside the coaxial cables is straight. A bent pin indicates damage and prevents internet connection.
- Replace any damaged cables.
2
Restart the modem or gateway. A random glitch can be causing the blinking green light, and restarting it can be an easy fix!
- To restart, unplug the modem's/gateway's power from the wall for a few minutes, then plug it back in.
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3
Check for a Cox outage. An overall internet outage or maintenance outage can cause your router to blink green.
- Call the local ISP office to see if there's an outage; you can also check their website for additional information.
Outdated software causes many issues, like a blinking green light. You can generally update the firmware by opening the app provided to you by Cox. Alternatively, go to their website, log in, go to System Settings in your router/modem/gateway's admin interface, and look there for a firmware update.
5
Factory reset the device. Doing so removes all personalized settings, like if you changed the network name/password.
- To reset it to factory settings, look at the back of the modem and press the recessed "Reset" button for a few seconds.
Your router may be too old or internally damaged and replacing it might be your only option. Since it's a rental device, call Cox to get a replacement. If you don't want another rental, you can buy your own Cox-compatible modem and wireless router.
In some cases, you can't fix the blinking green light yourself and need help from Cox. They should also check the coaxial lines to make sure there isn't any damage, but they can also replace any lines outside that have been compromised (think chew marks from outside critters).^{[1]
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Section 2 of 4:

Common Causes

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There are a few reasons for a blinking green Cox modem, including:
- Loose cables - loose cables can prevent your modem from connecting properly and trigger the blinking green light.
- Loose splitters - loose splitters can also prevent your modem from connecting properly.
- Bent coaxial pins - These can also prevent proper modem connection.
- Damaged cables - can also prevent your modem from connecting properly and trigger the blinking green light.
- Outage - an outage from your ISP prevents your modem from connecting to the internet properly and triggers the blinking green light.
- Software glitch - a hiccup(glitch) in your modem can be causing the issue; there might not be anything wrong with your internet connection, but this glitch.
- Outdated firmware - outdated software can cause many issues, including the blinking green light.
- Bad settings - you or someone else could have previously configured settings that is now preventing you from connecting to the internet.
- Old equipment - older equipment doesn't always work with newer systems and causes the green light on your modem to blink.
- Damaged equipment - think of the chewers outside that may have compromised/exposed wiring; water, sunlight, snow, and ice also play a role in deteriorating outside equipment^{[2]
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Section 3 of 4:

FAQ

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Your Cox modem should show a white light if everything is functioning normally. If you see any other color, like green, yellow, orange, or red, you need to troubleshoot it.
A blinking green light on "Upstream" means the modem is looking for a channel. You can fix this a few different ways, like checking for loose or damaged coaxial or power cables, restarting the modem, and updating firmware.
Modern equipment combines the modem and router, but you may have 2 separate towers. The one connected to your wall with a coaxial cable is the modem. In some cases, the router and modem are combined in a gateway.
A flashing orange or amber light means the router/modem is trying to register on Cox's network.
If both orange and green lights are blinking, your router is downloading and installing firmware. This should only take a few minutes. If the lights flash for over 5 minutes, there is likely a connection issue, not a firmware problem.
A flashing white light indicates that something is wrong with the connection. You'll usually see this in cases where you have more than one router hooked up to a modem to create a more complicated network that covers a large area. In these cases, the solution is to take the PANORAMIC WIFI GATEWAY (PW8) out of bridge mode and connect to the other router while it's in bridge mode. This appears to be a bug with the PW8 in bridge mode.
A blinking blue modem means the WPS button was pressed and it's trying to wirelessly connect with another device.
You don't want your Cox modem to be blinking at all since the normal operation light is a solid white light.

Section 4 of 4:

Cox Modem/Gateway Light Chart

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Cox Provided Gateway LED Guide
No lights	The gateway is off or not receiving power
Solid orange or amber	Initial boot up and power
Flashing orange or amber	Gateway is registering (downstream)
Flashing green	Gateway is registering (upstream)
Solid red	Error/failed connection (the modem is offline)
Solid white	The gateway is online and stable
Flashing blue	WPS mode (you pressed the WPS button)
Flashing orange and green	The gateway is currently downloading firmware