Before Dennis Doughty left for a two-week trip to Antarctica he prepared an emergency document for his wife, should, heaven forbid, the worst happen in his absence. He also left her phone numbers for two people to call in a crisis. Doctors? No. Fellow Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates. And the document? It carried instructions for restarting the Internet in their Brookline home.

“I wanted to make sure she had backup technical support,’’ said Doughty. By day, he works as vice president of research and development for Jumptap, a targeted mobile advertising firm in Cambridge. On nights and weekends, he toils as his family’s IT guy.

In 2012, with laptops and desktops to maintain, gaming systems to upgrade, e-readers to configure, pictures to store, share and back up, music and videos to manage, wireless routers to set up, contacts to migrate, printers to unjam, software to keep up to date, viruses to fight, smartphones to program, apps to download, and parental controls to wrestle with, it’s come to this: Every home needs its own tech support.

“Remember the good old days?’’ asked MIT professor Randall Davis, “when all you had to do was try to figure out how to set the clock on the VCR?’’

In 1975, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, the average number of electronic gadgets per US household was 1.3 - most commonly radios and TVs. By 2011, households had come to rely on an average of 24 electronic gadgets, many if not all perceived by their owners as essential to life itself.

Between the technology already running in the home, and the incoming models of the latest must-have toy, the need for tech assistance is virtually constant. Yes, outside help is available. The Geek Squad and smaller outfits make house calls. Apple customers can take their problems to an in-store Genius Bar.

But many people prefer to turn to a family member. An onsite relative is best, of course, but as countless sons, daughters, nieces, and nephews have learned, the phone works nicely, too.

Consider the plight of Gregg Snider, an IT systems engineer for Joule Unlimited, a start-up company in Bedford - and trouble-shooter for his extended family.

“I have an uncle who is a loud personality, let’s just say,’’ said Snider. “It was 11 or 11:30 on a Sunday night, and I got a call. ‘It’s your aunt. Your uncle has a computer problem. Can you talk to him?’

“He started ranting: ‘Why don’t these [darn] computers work better?’ I’m trying to calmly ask him a few questions, but he goes on a tangent. He was irate at me that through his tantrum I couldn’t figure out what was wrong.’’

Snider sighed, then mentioned (lovingly) that his parents also seek his help. “My mother is the person who sees the ‘click here for free iPad’ ad, and crashes the entire stock market,’’ he said. “I got an e-mail from my father that said, ‘Your mother swears she didn’t click on anything, but all the computers in the house have some weird virus. Can you help?’’

But pity the lay people, even if they are unwittingly downloading malware. As Lance Ulanoff, editor in chief of Mashable, an online news site that covers digital culture, social media, and technology, points out, “There’s no longer this barrier between the geeks and people who just live their lives. Everyone lives their lives with technology, whether they want to or not.’’

“It’s almost like every home has become a small business,’’ he added, “and you need that person you can reach out to and say, ‘This isn’t working.’ ’’

But providing tech support can be stressful, particularly for those who are not good at it, just less hopeless than others in their home. Laura Zigman, the best-selling author of “Animal Husbandry,’’ and the default IT person in her Newton household, says health insurers should offer free visits by IT experts. “It’s a mental health issue.’’

She’s responsible for maintaining two laptops, the printer, her husband’s iPhone, her new iPod nano, and, offsite, her father’s wireless and computer, set up six years ago by his rabbi’s son.

“He doesn’t want to bother me,’’ Zigman said of her dad, “but when I haven’t gotten an e-mail from him in 12 hours, I know he’s having a problem.’’

“Yesterday I was over there fixing it and trying to explain to him what ‘using the neighbor’s wireless’ means. I was on my hands and knees gesticulating with jazz hands - ‘Your computer is looking for a signal in the sky! And it’s not getting one.’ But I still don’t think he got it.’’

No less a corporate entity than Microsoft has recognized the stress amateur tech support workers face. Once a year, the company gives every employee two free “Quick Assistance’’ cards to bestow upon friends and family. These golden tickets have a toll-free tech-support number, freeing the Microsoft employee, if only for those two times, from his extracurricular duties. “It’s an employee benefit,’’ said spokeswoman Catherine Collins.

What’s a person without a patient relative, or a Microsoft connection, to do? Some have started taking adult education workshops on the iPhone and other gadgets. The courses provide not just an education, but a judgment-free zone.

“In some cases,’’ explained Adam Rosen, an instructor at several local centers, and owner of Oakbog, a Mac consulting firm in Malden, “it’s counterproductive to get a relative involved. It gets into a family feud, with emotions that aren’t related to the task at hand. I can watch what someone’s doing and say, ‘Do this.’ I have no baggage. I just want to answer the question.’’

Despite all the grousing (by both the helpers and the helped), Julie Povall, a retired marketing consultant who relies on nieces and nephews for tech support, points out an upside. “In a weird way it brings us closer because they feel like they’re contributing to the family,’’ said Povall, of West Roxbury. “Either that, or they think I’m really old.’’

Try BostonGlobe.com today and get two weeks FREE. Beth Teitell can be reached at bteitell@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @bethteitell.