Desktop-style / Network

Network

Twelve scenarios where the machine says it is connected, or says nothing at all. Each one starts broken. Nothing tells you where the fault is.

17 scenarios solved

One free scenario left. The other 51 in the library stay visible so you can see what you would be practising on. Pre-built scenarios are unlimited on Pro — there is no monthly cap on them.

Scenario 01 / Network / Desktop-style

Connected, but nothing loads

“Wi-Fi shows connected but nothing loads.” The user’s own words

Difficulty

Beginner

Typical solve

9 min

What you will practise

reading network configuration using the console interpreting error codes separating a fix from a verification

How it works

You land inside a machine that is already broken. Open whatever you need — the browser, the settings, the console. Change the thing that is actually wrong, wherever it lives. Then go back and confirm the symptom is gone. Nothing here will tell you that you succeeded; you have to check.

Uses your last free scenario

SIM-DESKTOP-01 · desktop-style · 4 GB · simulated Scenario 01 — Connected, but nothing loads

SIM-DESKTOP-01 · desktop-style · 4 GB · simulated Elapsed 04:11 · one hint used

Debrief / Scenario 01

You got it — the blunt way

Connected, but nothing loads. The machine had a DNS server set by hand that no longer exists on this network.

6:42

Your time

9:10

Typical solve

1

Hints used

2

Dead ends

What you did

Only the actions that changed what you knew.

Opened the browser and retried the page
00:12 · symptom confirmed — NAME_NOT_RESOLVED
Checked Proxy settings
Dead end · proxy was already off
Checked Date & time
Dead end · clock was correct
Ran netinfo in the console
02:48 · address and gateway present, DNS set manually to 10.10.10.53
Ran reach 10.10.10.53
03:20 · 100% loss — the configured resolver was not on this network
Set DNS by hand to 9.9.9.9
05:56 · Settings › Network & internet › Wi-Fi › Hawthorn 5G
Reloaded the page
06:42 · loaded — verified

The shorter path

Same evidence, one fewer assumption.

Confirm the symptom in the browser
The error names resolution, not connection
Run netinfo
Read how each value was assigned, not only what it is
Notice one value was set by hand and the rest by DHCP
That inconsistency is the whole scenario
Set DNS assignment back to Automatic
Settings › Network & internet › Wi-Fi › Hawthorn 5G
Reload the page
Verify from the same place the symptom appeared

Your fix works. Here is what it costs.

Pinning a public resolver clears the symptom today. It also leaves a hand-set value on the machine — the same kind of value that caused this fault in the first place.

On a home network you will probably never notice. On a work network, hard-coded DNS skips the internal resolver, so internal addresses stop resolving and the machine stops following the network when it changes.

Automatic would have removed the fault instead of replacing it.

What this teaches

A machine can hold a valid address, a working route and a dead resolver at the same time. “Connected” describes the link, not the internet. When one value in a configuration was set by a person and the rest by the network, that value is where you look first.

Custom scenario

Describe your own issue

If the thing that broke isn’t in the library, write it the way you would tell a colleague. Breakfix builds a machine with that fault in it, then hides the fault.

State 1 — Input

Environment (optional)

Roughly how hard (optional)

18 of 20 custom scenarios left this month

State 2 — Building

Reading your description printing · queue · recurring

Assembling the environment desktop-style · print queue · driver store

Placing the fault and its decoys

Writing the verification step

The verification step is written last, because it has to be something you can check without being told.

State 3 — Ready

Custom Generated 4 Aug Not in the library

Every job sits in the queue

“Jobs go to the printer and stay there. Restarting it clears them, then it comes back.” Your words, tidied

Difficulty

Intermediate

Estimated

14 min

Custom scenarios are built for you, one at a time

Everything in the library is already built, so it costs nothing to run and Pro never caps it. A custom scenario is different: your description goes to a model that assembles a working machine, plants the fault, writes the decoys and the verification. That happens once, for you, and it has a real cost per scenario. That is the part that is paid.

20 custom scenarios a month, built from your own descriptions
The whole library, unlimited — 54 scenarios across three environments
Unlimited randomise, learning paths, and progress tracking

Your free scenarios stay yours either way. They do not expire.

Progress

17 solved, 4 of them the hard way

A solve counts when you verified it yourself. Hints and dead ends are kept because they are the useful part.

Solved by category

Network7/12

Display3/8

Startup2/6

Storage2/7

Peripherals2/9

Performance1/7

Accounts0/5

Where you are slowest

Ranked by hints used and time over the typical solve.

Accounts — nothing attempted yetno data

Performance — 3 hints across 2 scenarios+112% time

Peripherals — 2 blunt fixes out of 2 solves+64% time

Storage — 1 hint, close to typical+18% time

Streak

22 JUL → 4 AUG

6 days in a row. Your longest is 11. One solve a day keeps it.

Your custom scenarios

18 of 20 left this month. Resets 1 September.

Every job sits in the queue
Peripherals · built 4 Augunplayed

Second monitor goes black at random
Display · built 29 Julsolved

Fans spin up when nothing is running
Performance · built 24 Jul3 hints

Plans

Nothing pre-built is ever capped

The library costs us nothing to serve, so Pro does not meter it. The only metered thing is AI generation, because that is the only thing with a cost each time you use it.

Free

£0

3 scenarios, for as long as you like

3 scenarios in total — a lifetime allowance, not a monthly one
The full library stays visible, so you can see what is behind the lock
Sign up with email, Google or GitHub
No custom scenarios

Most people pick this

Breakfix Pro

£84a year

£35.88 less than paying monthly

The whole library, unlimited. 54 scenarios, no cap, no counter
Unlimited randomise. Replay any scenario with the fault moved
Learning paths and progress tracking
20 custom scenarios a month, generated from your own descriptions

Teams

Per seat

Priced on enquiry

Everything in Pro, for every seat
Admin dashboard across the whole team
Assign learning paths to individuals or the whole desk
Track staff progress, hints used, and blunt fixes

Pro never stops you mid-scenario. If you run out of custom generations, the library keeps working exactly as before.

What happens to my progress if I cancel?

It stays. Solved scenarios, times, streak and debriefs are kept on your account, and they are all still readable on Free. You go back to needing a plan only to open new library scenarios.

Do the three free scenarios expire?

No. They are a lifetime allowance, not a monthly one. If you use one today and the next in six months, that is fine.

What is a custom scenario?

You describe a fault in your own words and Breakfix builds a working machine with that fault hidden inside it, including the decoys and the verification step. Each one is generated for you when you ask, which is why they are counted.

Is there a student rate?

Yes — Pro is half price with an academic email address, on the annual plan. It is the same product, and it renews at the student rate for as long as the address verifies.