This Sunday morning brought a phone call from a friend for some help setting up a new wireless router in her house. I really don’t mind these kind of calls from friends–except for the amount of time spent saying that it really is no trouble and please don’t think that if I say it isn’t a problem, I’m just being nice.

(Believe me, if it’s a problem–I will say so. I’m not that nice. If you are looking at something too major or completely over my head, I’ll steer you to someone who gets paid to help out.)

I’m usually OK with being a member of the unofficial Friend Geek Squad (sometimes alternatively I am known as a member of the “Freek Squad”, but for completely unrelated reasons…) My Dad always said it was important to have a skill to fall back on–and if this whole Journalism thing ultimately doesn’t work out, I am hoping to land a job at the Apple store or maybe Best Buy.

Assuming those guys are still in business when I need them.

But there are a few informal rules about providing tech support for friends (and family) that I have devised. These seem to be pretty universal, so if you have a geek friend that serves as your unofficial IT, HDTV, and other technology support staff–you might want to give these a shot to preserve the friendship and make sure you get help when you really need it.

First off, Call Before You Buy

This may seem obvious, but many people think it is an imposition to call and ask what to buy before they plunk down their plastic to the eager, yet hopelessly uninformed person at the Best Buy, Circuit City, Staples or wherever. For instance, in my friend’s case –she had gotten a wireless router on the recommendation of a Staples staffer. Which might have been OK, but she was hooking it up to her iMac.

Problem is that what she actually needed was two things, a new router and then an extender to make sure there is a wireless internet signal on the second floor on her house. This is more and more common as folks try to deploy WiFi across their whole house (or business).

Of course, polite people will always say “I didn’t want to bother you when I was out shopping.” A nice sentiment, but here is the deal–if you buy the right thing in the first place, it may make the later call for help unnecessary. Or at least it will make giving the help a lot easier to provide. (Contrary to popular belief, we geeky friends don’t know about every piece of gear that is out there, so it is easier when you ask us to help with stuff we do know something about.)

As an alternative, you can always send a text message if you want to ask if I am busy during the workday.

Second, It is often easier to show up than help over the phone.

Sure, simple things can be addressed over a phone call–but the same reason that the folks on the manufacturer’s tech support line can’t solve your problem is often why I can’t. Every situation is different, and sometimes what may take forever on the phone, is a shorter deal when I can look at it in person. (Don’t worry, my office is as messy as anything in your house.)

But if I offer to come over and fix the problem–it should be on my schedule. So don’t assume that I can either be there in five minutes or in between your other appointments only in the window between 4 and 4:15pm. The correct response is always “whenever you can come by would be great.”

Third, payment is unnecessary–but thoughtfulness is always OK.

Many thanks for asking if I need anything, including a drink or some food if I make a house call. If I say no, it isn’t meant to be rude or that I don’t like whatever you are serving. I probably just don’t want anything right that second.

And I don’t ever expect to be paid for helping out a friend in need. What kind of friend would I be if I did? That said, it is perfectly OK–if I have spent more than a half-hour on whatever the problem is–to do something nice if the mood strikes you. I consider iTunes gift cards to be the best currency to reward anyone for going above and beyond. They sell them everywhere (even at the local supermarket checkout!) or if you are exceptionally lazy, you can send them online, right from your computer.

Someone asked me about that last rule, “What if they don’t have an iPod and only use something like a Zune?”

A Zune? Seriously? Would you call someone who owns a Zune for tech support in the first place?