You know that scene from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation? Today it happened to me.

My parents got a new Seagate home NAS for backup/storage and ask me to help set it up (they're in the US and I'm on the other side of the world in Australia). I tell my mom that it should be pretty easy: "Mom, you literally have 2 cables to plug in...plug in the power cord and plug in the ethernet cable to your router". Easy right? We set up a time to skype and as soon as we connect she's already frustrated:

Mom: The pictures make it look so easy but I can't find it on our network!

Me: Okay...is the power cord plugged in? And you're connected to you router?

Mom: Yes, the power light is on and I plugged it into the back of the docking station.

Me: facepalm

We sort that out and get it plugged into their router. The whole time I'm on her laptop via teamviewer and checking for the NAS on their network....nothing showing up. Turns out they have, in addition to their modem/router combo for internet, a separate modem for phone service...guess which one she plugged it into. The router is actually in another room (they moved it a year ago for better reception).

So....attempt 3. Get the NAS finally plugged into the actual router. BINGO! Shows up on the network. I show them how to get to the NAS's setup page and start walking them through settings, username & password, and upgrading the firmware. The update seems to be going well, and then the NAS disappears from the network. No big deal, it's just rebooting after the update. 20 minutes later it's still not showing up. I ask mom to double-check connections and tell me what the LED is doing (flashing, solid, red, green, etc.) to see if I can diagnose anything.

Then the NAS shows up again...great, all set up. Except it's like we're connecting the NAS for the first time again. No username, and it's telling me to update the firmware again. We repeat the whole process, firmware starts updating, starts to reboot and then vanishes. It's at this point I see my dad go into the other room and turn on a light to check the LED again. Then it clicks:

Me: Mom...what is the NAS plugged into? An outlet or a power strip?"

Mom: Oh the power strip is full, I just plugged it into the outlet above.

Me: The one that is connected to the light switch?

Mom: OH MY GOD!

Every time one of them would go check on it they'd turn on the light, NAS shows up on the network, update starts, and they'd turn off the light. Thankfully, for whatever reason, two iterations of turning off the power during the firmware update didn't brick it. It's now safely on a surge protector not connected to a light switch.

TL;DR - I'm Chevy Chase, new NAS is the Christmas light display, and my parent's keep flipping the switch like Beverly D'Angelo.