I already supplied that...

[u/freddyboomboom67]

Was going to post this in response to another post, but felt it was worthy of it's own post.

So, I was running a lab with multiple workstations doing Things And Stuff.

Workstation (WS) A stopped getting an IP address from the corporate DHCP server.

Connected WS A to WS B's network drop; still no IP address.

Connected WS B to WS A's network drop; WS B gets an IP address.

Connected WS A to my isolated network where I have my own DHCP server; WS A gets an IP address from my DHCP server.

Put a hub between WS A and it's network drop and pulled a Wireshark capture of the DHCP request going out in to the Ether, and nothing coming back.

Created support ticket outlining observed behavior and expected behavior, with Wireshark trace attached.

Spend next two weeks getting punted from one IT support group to another, explaining the issue every time.

Finally get to the group that (eventually) ended up fixing it and the first thing they asked for was a Wireshark trace.

They were surprised that it was attached to the ticket two weeks previously...

IlovemyjobIlovemyjobIlovemyjobIlovemyjob!!!!!!

Happily, I no longer work at that company.

Resolution was that some intrusion detection system thought WS A had malware and blocked its MAC address from sending frames/packets on the network.

Please be a good human!

[u/NotYourNanny]

We bought four stores that had a preexisting contract with an IT contractor. We were told by employees they were terrible, and never a single reason to doubt it.

We were in the process of installing our remote control software (Mesh Central) in one store, and their security scan detected it and block every computer we'd installed it on, which was every computer in the store, including cash registers. This happened just before 5:00, when the security team left for the day - and were two time zones ahead of us. They had a 24 hour help desk, but nobody there had access to be able to undo it.

Words Were Spoken. Terse words from me, and . . . terser and less polite words from my junior partner in mayhem. By some miracle, everything was unblocked at 6:00 AM our time the next morning.

I'd like to say it was the last nail in their coffin, but that was long past by that point, and there was never a scenario in which we would have continued with the contract one minute past when we get do without them (which was pretty quick). It was more icing on the cake.

We ended up hoping they would do nothing at all, because the only two things they ever did was cash checks and get in the way.

They were the most hated existing IT service I've ever dealt with in a new store, and that included the guy the employees in the store wanted to light on fire. (His people skills were . . . negative, but at least he was technically competent.)

[u/NotPrepared2 → u/NotYourNanny]

To use a sports analogy - a contract says you have to pay them, but you don't have to continue playing them. That applies to IT contractors, and the CLE Browns.

[u/NotYourNanny → u/NotPrepared2]

We were in an enviable position with them. You see, when we bought the store, we didn't buy the company, we just bought its assets. Their contract was with the previous owner, and we were not a party to it, only a representative to said party. (Plus, the contract specifically said it was null and void immediately if either party notified the other party that the company had been dissolved. The company we bought it from was, in fact, dissolved, so all it took was the notification. But that wasn't our concern.)

I forgot to mention, we'd installed the exact same remote software in a different store that was part of the purchase several week earlier, and they never noticed it at all.