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[–] 39 points 10 months ago (5 children)

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.

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  • [–] 20 points 10 months ago (1 child)

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

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months 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.

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  • [+] 6 points 10 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 1 point 10 months 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.

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