61The term “loopback” refers to an old trick used by network technicians to diagnose suspect serial port connections on a computer. Using a short piece of copper wire (or even a paperclip) to “jumper” pins 2 and 3 on an EIA/TIA-232 serial port, any serial data transmitted (out of pin 3) would be immediately received (in pin 2), allowing the serial data to “loop back” to the computer where it could be read. This simple test, if passed, would prove the computer’s low-level communication software and hardware was working properly and that any networking problems must lie elsewhere.