• TrackinDaKraken@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    I called my ISP because my internet went down. They asked if I’d unplugged the router and plugged it back in. I slightly smuggly said, “Yes.” Then, they asked if I’d left it unplugged for at least 30 seconds…

    Well, fuck.

    • [deleted]@piefed.world
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      3 days ago

      They should have asked “did you unplug it for thirty seconds and plug it back in” as the first question if how long matters.

      • bcgm3@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Then people would answer “yes” without a moment’s thought, whether they did or didn’t, rendering the question useless.

        The gotcha is what makes the question at least somewhat useful to an IT person.

      • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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        2 days ago

        Nah, some electronics just have residual power in their system somewhere like in capacitors.

        Unplugging and replugging with only a couple of seconds or so in between is not enough for it to fully shut down. It can keep corrupted information in their ram.

        10 seconds at least, but I get when they ask for 30 seconds just to make sure.

        • alternategait@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          I knew someone who convinced his grandma that “bugs” were literal insects that ate electricity (there are ants that are actually attracted to electricity so it’s not a stretch) so you have to turn things off long enough that they lose interest.

    • humorlessrepost@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      “No, but I keep the board exposed, and I manually discharged each capacitor before plugging it back in, so same thing really.”