Wow, Tech support is funny

[tjrose91]

Power supply to me is the same thing as power brick, had tech support not even now what a Power supply is from my ISP, kept referring as power cable and im like "no those are different things" and she was like " like for your phone and technically yes a power brick for your phone is like PSU and your USB cable is what the power travels on, im just WOWed on now a person regardless of gender be in a tech support position and not know what a PSU is or Power Supply Unit just PSU is faster to type, id figured a tech support would know more terminology on tech stuff that going thru their software for troubleshooting 

[IkeaGnome]

What context? Since you’re talking about ISP I’d imagine this is the power cable for your modem or router. 
Most people would call the cable that goes from the wall to either of those the power cable. 

[Godlygamer23]

They're tech support. Not a technician. They might be trained to refer to it as a power cable/cord. They may be calling it how they see it. Additionally, these tech support individuals aren't engineers. They're regular people trained a certain way. 

[Fasauceome]

15 minutes ago, tjrose91 said:

had tech support not even now what a Power supply is from my ISP, kept referring as power cable and im like "no those are different things"

You are talking about your modem or router right? In which case, the power cable and the power brick are built as one unit,  and I dont think there's anything wrong with calling the power supply a "power cable". If you're talking about some other equipment with the ISP, then I don't know what the context is here.

[Erioch]

It sounds like a lack of proper communication.  And reading your post, I'm guessing it's mostly on you.  

[Flavius Heraclius]

There's precise speech, and then there's being so pedantic that it is a barrier to communication. I suspect that you knew exactly what the tech support person was trying to say, and that this specific word usage did not pose a real barrier to addressing whatever issue you contacted tech support about to begin with.

[tjrose91]

3 hours ago, IkeaGnome said:

What context? Since you’re talking about ISP I’d imagine this is the power cable for your modem or router. 
Most people would call the cable that goes from the wall to either of those the power cable.

To me a power cable is basically the same type of cable that you plug into your PSU or an extension cord I kept having to say power brick so they would make the connection

[tjrose91]

2 hours ago, Godlygamer23 said:

They're tech support. Not a technician. They might be trained to refer to it as a power cable/cord. They may be calling it how they see it. Additionally, these tech support individuals aren't engineers. They're regular people trained a certain way. 

I mean just to me a power cable is completely different than a power brick it's kind of like the power brick for your phone because you still need a USB cable to transfer the power

[Godlygamer23]

6 hours ago, tjrose91 said:

I mean just to me a power cable is completely different than a power brick it's kind of like the power brick for your phone because you still need a USB cable to transfer the power

Okay so you had a miscommunication. Yes they are technically all 'power supplies'. But IMO, it was unnecessary and they were likely communicating how they were trained, based on how everyday people might view it. 

[cooky560]

1st line tech support (the people you speak to first on the phone) are usually not technical. They're customer support staff trained in complaints resolution, call handling, and some basic steps that will help 90% of users. They're generally also trained to use non-technical language as the vast majority of their customers won't understand or appreciate the jargon, they just "want it fixed NOW!".  If the 1st line of defence can't help with your issue, they'll usually create a ticket to escalate it to a technician who has more technical knowledge, you may hear from this technician directly, or they might reply to the ticket and then the advice be passed back to you via the 1st line operator, depending on the policies in place.

 

I'm not sure pedantic arguments about what the poor phone operator called things was particularly helpful. 

[ToboRobot]

20 minutes ago, cooky560 said:

1st line tech support (the people you speak to first on the phone) are usually not technical. They're customer support staff trained in complaints resolution, call handling, and some basic steps that will help 90% of users. They're generally also trained to use non-technical language as the vast majority of their customers won't understand or appreciate the jargon, they just "want it fixed NOW!".  If the 1st line of defence can't help with your issue, they'll usually create a ticket to escalate it to a technician who has more technical knowledge, you may hear from this technician directly, or they might reply to the ticket and then the advice be passed back to you via the 1st line operator, depending on the policies in place.

 

I'm not sure pedantic arguments about what the poor phone operator called things was particularly helpful. 

No, most 1st line tech support staff are technical support staff and have basic technical training.  

Obviously depends on how in depth the technical training will be based on the employer, but you are incorrect.

[Mark Kaine]

10 hours ago, Fasauceome said:

You are talking about your modem or router right? In which case, the power cable and the power brick are built as one unit,  and I dont think there's anything wrong with calling the power supply a "power cable". If you're talking about some other equipment with the ISP, then I don't know what the context is here.

this is so weird to me, no one here would call it a cable, unless really clueless or it's actually the cable that's defective,  everyone would just say "transformator" as in "power transformer" as thats what it is, its not just a cable lol.

 

so i get why op is weirded out... but may be language differences,  sure.

 

reminds me when i asked an Asus "expert" if the router supports "Vlan" to which he replied he "never heard of that"... so yeah these guys are trained a certain way, sure,  but are often clueless and lack common technical sense - btw with this new information   i called Amazon and got a full refund (for an out of warranty router), thanks, Asus "expert"!

 

 

[Fasauceome]

6 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

this is so weird to me, no one here would call it a cable, unless really clueless or it's actually the cable that's defective

Maybe I'm more used to labeling it for people that don't know the finer details. I've called it everything from a power brick to a power cord, to just "the power". I try to use a term that whoever I'm talking to will understand, "unplug the power cable from the back of the modem and then plug it back in"  "can you find the power cord that they gave you with this router?", etc.

[IkeaGnome]

7 hours ago, tjrose91 said:

To me a power cable is basically the same type of cable that you plug into your PSU or an extension cord I kept having to say power brick so they would make the connection

All this and you didn’t explain the context. 
 

new thread: “Wow, Posters are funny”

 

This guy came in and posted trying to talk about a miscommunication between them and someone else. No matter how many people asked for more context they just wouldn’t give it. I don’t know how they expected to get real answers when people were still having to guess what the miscommunication truly was. 
They couldn’t even take the time to explain what was being worked on, what tech support was exactly saying. They just kept saying “PSU” or “USB cable” when talking about the power cable. 

[Nuzicx]

A power brick it’s technically a power delivery method.

 

The good old IEC C14 Mains Socket Power Cable, it’s technically a power delivery method regardless of PSU which is after the fact.

 

Dumb it down both are a power source, how does that get from point a to b, though conduction though a transmission medium. A power line, electrical cord or power cord. This seems like the logical word for less technically inclined.

 

Ive learnt that people don’t appreciate jargon and I give a simplified answer whilst adding that “I’m happy to explain in a more technical term if that would help”

 

You could avoid troublesome conversations by choosing a good ISP that provides actual technical support and not customer service. Found my ISP on the 10th page of google, they mainly deal in TC-2 connections and use to enterprise equipment. They are happy to pull up manuals for your equipment and have qualifications, this ISP doesn’t run off a script.

[NumLock21]

If you know what the customer support personal is saying, just follow their steps. They're trying to help you solve your problems not for you to show them, that you're better, cause you have more technical vocabulary under your belt. This isn't a competition of who knows more. Want to do that, then ask them to transfer you to someone who's more higher up. Let them speak to you in technical term defined by the IEEE or some other standards, and they would probably use terms you probably won't even understand.

[tkitch]

5 hours ago, htimsenyawed said:

Charging box - box that plugs into... the plug and the cord is attached to, like with a phone.

Power brick - the inline box of a charging cable.

Power cord - it's the damn cord.

Power supply - internal power delivery system

 

That's how I see it. But I wouldn't also act purposefully obtuse to seem superior to someone calling any of that (except the cord) the power supply.

And your definitions also fail very very quickly:

There are plenty of Phone Chargers with built in cables.  

Phone chargers are also just AC Adapters.

Power Bricks?  Do you mean a Wall Wart?  or a Power Brick in-line on a laptop/other charger?

Also:  Power Bricks are just AC Adapters

Power Supply:  Is anything that supplies power to a device.  Power Bricks, Charging Boxes, Wall Warts, and other thins are also Power Supplies.

I work in IT Every Day.  Sitting on the technician's end of that phone call is like playing whack a mole with user made up nonsense.  They make up terms all the time and expect IT to know what their nonsense lingo is supposed to be.  

 

I have to break things down to very simple levels to get communication happening between me and the client.

 

.

OP?  Reading your post?  I'ma say that easily half of the miscommunication on your call with the Tech was your own fault.  

Your original post is barely coherent, with enough mistakes to make it actually a challenge to read.  

[starsmine]

 

9 hours ago, htimsenyawed said:

Charging box - box that plugs into... the plug and the cord is attached to, like with a phone.

Power brick - the inline box of a charging cable.

Power cord - it's the damn cord.

Power supply - internal power delivery system

 

That's how I see it. But I wouldn't also act purposefully obtuse to seem superior to someone calling any of that (except the cord) the power supply.

 

I always find it weird for mobile devices that one would call anything internal to a phone a powersupply (even if it is)

your PC you call the thing that converts 120VAC to 12VDC the PSU. why would you not call the thing in your phone charging setup that converts 120VAC to 5VDC/20VDC the PSU. 

Powerbricks for all other use cases are called the power supply. why for mobile phones would you change the definition? 

I do think colloquially we play too fast and lose with some of these words. Some people think the Power supply they use for their iPhone is incompatible with Android for this reason. You should not conflate the power cord with the power supply for this reason IMO

However, for the OP, you still have to work with them even if that is your thought process. I have zero idea what you wrote in OP since you kept using words wrong, and you are roasting the technician because they chose words that were ambiguous? Idk man.