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Network Case Files

Real network mysteries, and how they were solved.

Each case links to the engineer's own write-up. Our short summary gives the symptom and how the investigation began. The answer is left for the original.

Each dot is a case, placed by year and by the layer where the root cause sat. Choose a layer to filter the list.

Cases

1 case

A Wi-Fi link only worked while it was raining

The Wi-Fi only works when it's raining, predr.ag, 2024

Added 13 Nov 2026

A home internet connection ran over a point-to-point Wi-Fi bridge. In dry weather it dropped almost every packet, but within minutes of rain starting it worked normally, and about a quarter of an hour after the rain stopped it failed again. The author pings each hop to find where the loss begins, tests the equipment over a wired connection, and checks cables, power supplies and antennas one by one. The explanation for why rain helped is not what anyone would guess first.

wifipingpacket-loss