It’s helpful to take a few steps back from time to time to reassess where we’re each coming from on our knowledge of tech (or anything) to better communicate.

  • Echo Dot
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    9 months ago

    I always have to explain to people that the internet and Wi-Fi are two different things.

    I used to work at an internet service provider and oftentimes people would call up to say that they couldn’t connect to the internet and the problem was actually that they couldn’t connect to the Wi-Fi because the router was broken / out of range / had been turned off because they read something about 5G on Facebook. Their internet service was fine.

    • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      That’s like saying people are complaining their engine doesn’t work when it’s their drive train that’s broken.

      That’s not so much a misunderstanding of the structure of the system, as that people unfamiliar consider the drive train to be part of “the engine” which is “the set of mechanical things going on inside the car that makes the wheels turn” or “everything upstream of the wheels”.

      A person who can’t connect to wifi also can’t connect to the internet.

      • Echo Dot
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        9 months ago

        A person who can’t connect to wifi also can’t connect to the internet.

        Potentially they might still be able to access the internet via wired connection. The point is you need to identify where in the system the fault lies. If the fault is with the network connection then it’s the level three service provider that needs to take action (which depending on the configuration may or may not be the ISP’s responsibility) if the fault is with the router then additional troubleshooting is required to identify where the problem lies. It may very well just be used at error