Connection issues (Bell)

Hello,

I want to understand!!!

I was having connection issues with my ISP (Bell). I turned off my ONT (for 4–5 minutes), and restarted my router (pfSense) and my switch.

By the time I called them, my connection was dropping every 5–10 minutes. The technician told me to turn off my ONT and unplug all 3 cables (power, RJ45, and fiber) for ONE minute... And he told me to call back if the problem persisted... I thought to myself, "believe me, I'm going to be calling you back in 5 minutes"... But nope... it's been about twenty hours now and not a single drop since!

What is the difference between turning it off and unplugging it? The only thing I can think of is that he did something remotely during that time...