Some customers, like Robin Blandford, were sympathetic towards the airport staff's plight. He said a "poor chap" with a two-way radio was trying to keep hundreds of people up to date.
But Elizabeth Humphries, who describes herself as a Canadian mezzo-soprano, described Gatwick as "appalling", insisting the situation was "typical Britain".
Rob Fahey, from Tokyo, said it was "utter chaos" at south terminal, claiming it was evidence of Britain's "crumbling infrastructure".
In a tweet showing people crowding around a whiteboard, he said: "This tiny whiteboard is the only departures information in Gatwick Airport right now; every screen is offline.
"Utter chaos. This is a signature flourish at the end of a short trip that's been full of reminders of how badly the UK's infrastructure is crumbling."
Those waiting to depart scrambled to get close enough to read the temporary boards in the departure lounge, before the airport's technicians managed to project a computer document onto some of the screens around lunchtime.
Not everyone caught up in the furore criticised the airport. Actress Kirsty Malpass, who appeared in Jerry Springer: The Opera, tweeted her love for Gatwick's "old school" and "analogue" approach.
She said: "All the information screens down. Could be chaos. But thanks to an old school white board and a lot of people scurrying around with markers and erasers it is surprisingly calm and ordered."
Vodafone's engineers fixed the cable at around 4pm, but there were further delay as technicians had to reboot the airport's systems.
Normal service was eventually resumed just after 5pm local time, and a spokesman said: "The airport's manual contingency plan – which included displaying information manually in the terminals and having extra staff on hand to help direct passengers – worked well and tens of thousands of passengers departed on time and no flights were cancelled.
"Gatwick would like to apologise to any passengers who were inconvenienced by this issue."
Earlier in the day, he said a "handful of people have missed their flights" as a result of the problem, which is understood to have started at around 8.20am local time.
It resulted in some passengers heading to one gate, only to be told there had been a change of location.
With minimal whiteboards available, tourists were not able to rely on the plethora of digital displays usually dotted around the terminal.
August is one of the busiest periods of the year for the West Sussex airport as many families embark on summer holidays.
A Vodafone spokeswoman said: "We have identified a damaged fibre cable which is used by Gatwick airport to display flight information.
"Our engineers are working hard to fix the cable as quickly as possible. This is a top priority for us and we are very sorry for any problems caused by this issue. We are keeping Gatwick airport constantly informed of progress."
It is understood the cable was underground.
