For many years I had the good fortune to work with a small team of very talented software engineers. The team stayed together across many jobs working for many different companies. Our work was always related to computer networking and communications.
We had what we called “The Three Rules.” They weren’t really rules so much as aphorisms or perhaps rules of thumb that were surprisingly helpful in getting our job done. The first rule, also known as the prime directive, was “It’s always the cable.” The meaning of that was that when you’re having network problems it’s almost always because of a cable that needs to be replaced. You can think of it as analogous to the police rule that in a murder case you always look first at the spouse as the perpetrator. It isn’t always true but it turns out to be correct much more than you’d think it would.
The problem with the first rule is that we were always forgetting it. A network problem would occur and we’d waste time looking at all sorts of things that weren’t causing the issue. Finally, one of us would chant, “It’s always the cable” and sure enough when we replaced the cable the problem went away.
I’d been thinking lately that in our new wireless world where cables are eschewed, the first rule might not be applicable anymore or at least not with such force. The gods, of course, punished me for my apostasy.
I wrote the other day about the problems I had restoring my network connection after a lightning strike. I didn’t go into detail about the difficulties I had getting the new WiFi router working but the major issue was that it wouldn’t talk to the firewall to which it was connected. I spent most of the day chasing down what I believed the problem might be but got nowhere. Then in the back of my mind a little voice said, “It’s always the cable.”
Now I didn’t think that could be the case because that cable had been working just fine with the old router. All I did was unplug it from the old router and plug it into the new one. Of course, when I switched out the cable everything started working. That’s always the way the first rule works. You have a nice rationale for why this time it doesn’t apply but learn to your sorrow that—yes, actually—it does apply. That’s why it’s the first rule.
I’m telling you this story in part because I think it’s amusing but mainly to spread the dying wisdom embodied in the first rule. If you’re having a network problem, check your cables first.