When providing support, you have to be very precise when you ask someone to perform a check. The sentence "can you telnet to the port" is unambiguous. The sente

When providing support, you have to be very precise when you ask someone to perform a check. The sentence "can you telnet to the port" is unambiguous. The sentence "can you make a TCP connection" leaves the choice of the tool unspecified. Depending of their background, some people may use ping (subject to different firewall rules), or a browser (subject to proxy configuration).