That's a venerable trick for call center tech support. You can't ask the customer "Is it plugged in?". They will ALWAYS say yes and get mad, "do you think I'm an idiot?" But tell them to do something else with the connection in question, like "turn it around" or "blow dust out of it", and usually they'll actually do it and figure out if it wasn't plugged in.
"Please reboot your computer" serves a similar purpose. Rebooting hasn't actually fixed any network connectivity troubles since approximately Windows 95, but the action serves as proof that 1) the customer actually has a computer, 2) they are at it, and 3) it's turned on. They really will have those basic facts wrong and lie about them if directly asked. ("Their computer" could be at their nephew's house, or be a TV.)
"Please reboot your computer" serves a similar purpose. Rebooting hasn't actually fixed any network connectivity troubles since approximately Windows 95, but the action serves as proof that 1) the customer actually has a computer, 2) they are at it, and 3) it's turned on. They really will have those basic facts wrong and lie about them if directly asked. ("Their computer" could be at their nephew's house, or be a TV.)