Had a client ask me to fix their 'broken internet' by cleaning the mouse ball

This older lady called me out last Tuesday because her email wouldn't load. I get there, and she points at her wireless mouse and says, 'The little ball inside must be dirty, that's why the internet is slow.' I had to explain that her mouse hasn't had a ball for about 20 years and that her Wi-Fi router was unplugged. She was totally serious, and it made me realize how much basic tech knowledge we take for granted. We just assume everyone knows what a router looks like now. I spent an extra 30 minutes drawing her a simple picture of her home network setup so she wouldn't call me for that again. What's the most outdated tech fix someone has asked you for recently?

2 comments

2 Comments

rivera.simon14d ago

Mouse ball cleaning, the classic IT support move.

davis.ivan14d ago

Honestly, I used to get annoyed by calls like that, but your story about drawing the picture actually makes a lot of sense.