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IT Work Case Studies

Real problems, real fixes. Before and after breakdowns of IT work done for small businesses and home offices.

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Case Studies

Each job below is a real type of engagement — the kind I take on regularly for small businesses and home offices in Houston.

Small Business Network
8-Person Office — Complete Network Overhaul
Marketing agency, Midtown Houston. Everything running on a consumer router from 2018.
On-site 1 day job Network infrastructure
The Problem
  • Dropped WiFi calls 3–4x per day
  • Single consumer router for 8 staff + 20 devices
  • No network segmentation — guest and staff on same network
  • NAS visible to every device on the network
  • No UPS — any power blip rebooted everything
What I Did
  • Replaced consumer router with Unifi Dream Machine
  • Added 2x Unifi APs for full office coverage
  • Created 3 VLANs: staff, IoT, and guest
  • Set firewall rules — NAS isolated to staff VLAN only
  • Added UPS for modem, router, and switch
  • Documented everything, trained the office manager
The Result
  • Zero dropped calls in first 30 days
  • Staff, guest, and IoT traffic fully separated
  • NAS accessible only to authorized devices
  • Clean network diagram left with client
  • No IT calls for 6+ months after
Network diagram — after
🌐
ISP Modem
🔒
UDM Pro
Firewall + Router
🔀
8-Port Switch
📡
AP ×2
Staff VLAN
🖥️
NAS
Staff only
📶
Guest WiFi
Isolated VLAN
Zero dropped calls after install
3 isolated VLANs
Full network documentation handed off
No follow-up calls for 6 months
Security Audit
Home Office Security & Remote Work Setup
Remote employee, West Houston. Company flagged their home network as a security risk.
Remote + On-site Half-day job Security hardening
The Problem
  • Default router credentials — never changed from factory
  • WPS enabled, weak WPA2 password
  • Work laptop on same network as kids' devices and smart TV
  • No VPN — connecting directly to company resources
  • Remote desktop exposed on public IP
What I Did
  • Changed all router credentials, disabled WPS, upgraded to WPA3
  • Created separate SSID for work devices only
  • Set up WireGuard VPN to company network
  • Moved RDP behind VPN — removed public exposure
  • Enabled automatic Windows updates + reviewed installed software
  • Gave client a one-page security checklist to maintain
The Result
  • Company's IT team cleared the home network
  • Work and personal devices fully separated
  • RDP no longer publicly accessible
  • Client confident managing their own setup going forward
Before vs. After — exposure comparison
Before
🌐
Public IP
RDP exposed
📡
One WiFi
Everything mixed
→
After
🔒
VPN Only
RDP hidden
📡
Work SSID
Isolated
📶
Home SSID
Personal devices
Company IT cleared the setup
RDP removed from public internet
Work and personal networks separated
Remote Support
Ongoing Remote IT Support — 5-Person Retail Business
Boutique retail shop, Heights Houston. No IT person, problems piling up.
Remote Ongoing retainer General IT support
The Situation
  • POS system crashing weekly, no one knew why
  • Owner's laptop running out of storage (no cleanup in 3 years)
  • Shared Google Drive was a mess — no structure
  • No password manager — staff sharing passwords in a notes app
  • Printer offline constantly
What I Do
  • Initial deep clean: POS issue resolved (conflicting background app), freed 40GB on laptop
  • Set up Bitwarden for team — all shared logins moved out of Notes
  • Reorganized Google Drive with clear folder structure + naming convention
  • Fixed printer — static IP assigned so it stops dropping off
  • Available by text for anything that comes up — usually resolved same day remotely
The Result
  • POS hasn't crashed since initial fix
  • Owner texts instead of panicking — issues resolved same day
  • Staff actually use the password manager
  • Drive is usable now — staff find files without asking
  • Business runs smoother with no full-time IT cost
POS crash resolved permanently
Same-day remote resolution on most issues
Team security improved with password manager
No full-time IT overhead

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