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Granted, this is in the unsupportable forum so I'd assume we all know what a trace route is, but just in case...a trace route tells you, hop by hop, what path your connection takes to get from A to B. For example, what different servers, switches, equipment, etc. it has to go through to reach, say, google or something. That said, the first couple of hops are often your equipment, meaning your network card, your router, etc. The next few hops are often within your ISP's network.
What that means is if one of those has failed, there will be either a lot of redirection, time outs, or other such nasty stuffs. In that case, often we have to dispatch network techs to check things out, but I digress. The following gem occurred earlier...
Me: "X Company, level 3. This is Sage speaking."
Tier 2: "Yeah, we've got a customer here with a slow browsing issue."
I proceed to pull the account and diagnostics. Everything looks fine from that angle, so I begin looking at the ticket. I do this because often things are either incorrectly diagnosed or flatout LIED about from the tier 2s, so I've become quite the skeptic. I decide to ask her questions about the ticket while looking it over.
Me: "Okay, you've got a trace route here..."
T2: "Right, yeah...it's timing out on the 10 hop."
(10th hop?!)
Me: "...Uh...okay."
T2: "..."
Me: "Well, that's not actually our network. That would be either the actual site itself or a public server of some sort. Have you had him try multiple sites?"
T2: "Well, no."
Me: "Were you able to navigate to this site?"
T2: "Uh...well..."
Me: "I'm also not seeing a speed test run in here."
T2: "Well...he said it was running slow."
Me: "That may be, but how slow? Is it running slow to all sites?"
T2: "So, are you ready for him?"
This is when I just about lost it. Our tier 2 reps are notorious for this. For what, you say? For completely shucking aside what you just said/asked in an attempt to shove the customer over to you, especially if you're clearly not ready. Not today, bitch!
Me:
"Ma'am, I asked you a question."
T2: "O-okay."
Me: "Clearly more troubleshooting needs to be done here. You have not verified what his speed is or even if he can browse at all!"
T2: (irritated) "...Well, what do you want me to do?"
Me: "We need to know if he's receiving timeouts on multiple sites and at what hop. We need to know what speeds he's getting. Further, is that site down? Can you trace route to the site successfully? Timeouts are irrelevant to us if they're beyond the 6th or 7th hop essentially."
T2: "Well, I always heard it was up to the 10th hop."
Me: "Sorry, no. We have no control over that."
T2: (grumbling) "Well, I guess I'll take him back then."
My wife, a former tier 2 and by NO means a technical expert, remembered what a trace route was, how it operated, and what the ISP's responsibilities were concerning which hops. She's not a dummy when it comes to troubleshooting, but she's basically a SC with a liiiiiiiittle knowledge of PCs...and most of it's outdated now. Yet this tier 2 couldn't get her sh** straight. Lovely.
What that means is if one of those has failed, there will be either a lot of redirection, time outs, or other such nasty stuffs. In that case, often we have to dispatch network techs to check things out, but I digress. The following gem occurred earlier...
Me: "X Company, level 3. This is Sage speaking."
Tier 2: "Yeah, we've got a customer here with a slow browsing issue."
I proceed to pull the account and diagnostics. Everything looks fine from that angle, so I begin looking at the ticket. I do this because often things are either incorrectly diagnosed or flatout LIED about from the tier 2s, so I've become quite the skeptic. I decide to ask her questions about the ticket while looking it over.
Me: "Okay, you've got a trace route here..."
T2: "Right, yeah...it's timing out on the 10 hop."
(10th hop?!)
Me: "...Uh...okay."
T2: "..."
Me: "Well, that's not actually our network. That would be either the actual site itself or a public server of some sort. Have you had him try multiple sites?"
T2: "Well, no."
Me: "Were you able to navigate to this site?"
T2: "Uh...well..."
Me: "I'm also not seeing a speed test run in here."
T2: "Well...he said it was running slow."
Me: "That may be, but how slow? Is it running slow to all sites?"
T2: "So, are you ready for him?"
This is when I just about lost it. Our tier 2 reps are notorious for this. For what, you say? For completely shucking aside what you just said/asked in an attempt to shove the customer over to you, especially if you're clearly not ready. Not today, bitch!
Me:
"Ma'am, I asked you a question."T2: "O-okay."
Me: "Clearly more troubleshooting needs to be done here. You have not verified what his speed is or even if he can browse at all!"
T2: (irritated) "...Well, what do you want me to do?"
Me: "We need to know if he's receiving timeouts on multiple sites and at what hop. We need to know what speeds he's getting. Further, is that site down? Can you trace route to the site successfully? Timeouts are irrelevant to us if they're beyond the 6th or 7th hop essentially."
T2: "Well, I always heard it was up to the 10th hop."
Me: "Sorry, no. We have no control over that."
T2: (grumbling) "Well, I guess I'll take him back then."
My wife, a former tier 2 and by NO means a technical expert, remembered what a trace route was, how it operated, and what the ISP's responsibilities were concerning which hops. She's not a dummy when it comes to troubleshooting, but she's basically a SC with a liiiiiiiittle knowledge of PCs...and most of it's outdated now. Yet this tier 2 couldn't get her sh** straight. Lovely.
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