Angle of Attack

Networks and network security · Southern California and remote

Networks that stay below the stall

Wi-Fi, wired networks, and network security for homes and small businesses, designed from measurements instead of guesses. Every project ends with a floor plan, a network diagram, and test results you can read.

Plan my Wi-Fi Request a site visit
  • -67 dBmor stronger at every spot you actually use, on 5 GHz
  • 60%or less airtime load at the busiest hour
  • 1 cableper access point, wired back to the switch
Illustrative model of one access point. Past the critical load, retries and contention reduce the traffic that gets through.

What I do

Services

Most jobs start with a survey and end with documentation. The work in between depends on the building.

  • Home

    Home networks

    Coverage in the garage, the back patio, and the upstairs office. Cabled to where it matters, wireless where it should be.

    Typical work: Ethernet to key rooms, access point placement, replacing struggling mesh kits, router and switch setup.

  • Business

    Small business networks

    Offices, shops, studios, and restaurants. A network sized for the staff you have and the ones you plan to hire.

    Typical work: firewall and switching, staff and guest separation, point-of-sale and phone readiness, written documentation.

  • Wireless

    Surveys and optimization

    Signal measured room by room, channels planned for the building, interference found and removed.

    Typical work: signal survey, channel and power plan, roaming and interference fixes, before and after speed tests.

  • Security

    Segmentation and security

    Cameras, smart devices, guests, and work laptops each get their own lane, so one weak device cannot reach the rest. Business security work is covered below.

    Typical work: VLANs, guest networks, firewall rules, DNS filtering, firmware and patch review.

  • Cabling

    Cabling and racks

    Clean runs to every access point, desk, and camera, with every port labeled and every path documented. A licensed cabling contractor installs it under a separate agreement with you.

    Typical work: Cat6A runs, patch panels, PoE for access points and cameras, labeled ports, tidy racks. I write the spec and verify the finished work.

  • Ongoing

    Care plans

    Someone watching the network after the install, and a person to call when something changes.

    Typical work: scheduled firmware updates, remote monitoring, quarterly reviews, priority support.

Why wireless matters

Wi-Fi is the network now

For most homes and offices, wireless is the main connection. Phones, tablets, and many laptops have no Ethernet port at all, and the rest are usually nowhere near a wall jack.

  • Laptops
  • Phones
  • Video calls
  • Smart TVs
  • Doorbells and cameras
  • Thermostats
  • Printers
  • Handheld scanners
  • Door locks

Everything on this list shares the same radio airtime. More devices on the same airtime means the network has to be designed, not just plugged in.

Plan my Wi-Fi

  • Work happens on video

    Video calls and cloud apps need steady throughput and low delay. A weak or crowded signal shows up as frozen faces and dropped calls.

  • Buildings fight the signal

    Stucco over wire lath, concrete, glass, and metal studs block or reflect Wi-Fi. A router in a closet cannot cover the building, whatever speed the provider advertises.

  • Faster internet does not fix it

    A gigabit plan does nothing for a device in a dead spot or one that shares a channel with twenty neighbors. The limit is the radio link, and it is fixed with placement, channel planning, and access points wired back to the switch.

Wi-Fi planner · rough numbers in ten seconds

How many access points do you need?

Enter the space and the devices. The planner sizes the access points for coverage and for load, then plots your network on the curve above. The starting numbers are an example.

Wire lath is common in older Southern California homes and blocks Wi-Fi hard.
3access points

Wired drops
5 GHz channel width
Planned load
Load today
Coverage today
Sized by

Planning estimate from rules of thumb for 5 GHz at -67 dBm. A measured survey replaces these numbers.

Why network security matters

Every business is a target now

Attacks are automated. Software scans the internet around the clock for exposed services, weak passwords, and unpatched firewalls, and it does not check how big the business is. Small businesses get hit because their defenses are thin.

These are the things attackers look for first:

  • Open remote desktop
  • Default passwords
  • Unpatched firewalls
  • One shared Wi-Fi password
  • A flat network
  • No logging

Each of these is a configuration problem, and configuration can be fixed.

See how I help

  • The office has no edge anymore

    Staff work from home, apps live in the cloud, and guests and contractors join the Wi-Fi. A single firewall at the door no longer describes where the data goes.

  • A flat network turns one mistake into a full breach

    On one shared network, a single infected laptop or hijacked camera can reach the file server and the point-of-sale system. Segmentation keeps the damage to one lane.

  • Insurers and customers now ask

    Cyber insurance questionnaires and customer security reviews increasingly ask about multi-factor authentication, patching, backups, and segmentation. A documented network makes those answers easy.

For businesses

Network security

Small businesses get attacked because their networks are flat, unpatched, and unwatched. I apply the controls enterprises use, sized for a business with ten staff instead of ten thousand.

What you receive

  • A findings report in plain language
  • A ranked fix list with effort and impact
  • Configuration backups and a change log
  • A diagram that matches what is actually deployed
Request a security review

Assessments run only against networks you own or have authorized in writing, with the scope agreed first. I prepare the network side for audits such as PCI DSS and for cyber insurance questionnaires. I do not certify compliance.

  • Firewall review and hardening

    Rule audit, exposed services, firmware, logging, and admin access, with a ranked list of fixes.

  • Firewall replacement and migration

    Move from an aging firewall to a new one with the rules translated and tested, and a rollback plan.

  • Segmentation

    Staff, guests, point-of-sale, cameras, printers, and smart devices on separate networks, with only the traffic each one needs.

  • Secure remote access

    VPN with multi-factor authentication in place of open remote desktop and port forwards.

  • Wireless security

    Per-user or certificate sign-in instead of one shared password, guest isolation, and a check for rogue access points.

  • Monitoring and alerts

    Alerts for new devices, config changes, failed logins, and outages, with regular configuration backups.

Also available

Beyond the install

Work that follows naturally from the main services.

  • Internet failover

    A cellular or second-provider backup, so card readers and phones keep working when the main line drops.

  • Short-term rental networks

    Guest Wi-Fi that survives turnover, with remote reset and a separate lane for smart locks and cameras.

  • Home office hardening

    Work laptops kept apart from smart TVs and game consoles, with VPN-ready firewall rules.

  • Private servers

    NAS and virtualization hosts for photo backup, media, and home automation, set up and documented.

  • Network audits

    An inventory, a diagram, and a one-page report on what is exposed, outdated, or misconfigured.

  • Smart home foundation

    A network that lights, locks, and cameras can depend on, with devices grouped by what they need to reach.

Platforms

Gear I work with

I recommend what fits the site, the budget, and whoever will manage it afterward. I have worked with all of these, commercial and open source, and I will tell you when the cheaper option is the right one.

Firewalls and security appliances

  • FortiGate (Fortinet)Firewall, VPN, SD-WAN
  • Palo Alto NetworksNext-generation firewalls
  • SonicWallFirewalls and UTM
  • WatchGuardFirewalls and UTM
  • SophosFirewalls and endpoint

Switching and wireless

  • UniFi (Ubiquiti)Home and small office
  • Meraki (Cisco)Cloud-managed, multi-site
  • Cisco Catalyst and BusinessCampus and small business
  • FortiAP and FortiSwitchPairs with FortiGate
  • Ruckus, Aruba Instant On, Juniper MistWi-Fi
  • TP-Link Omada, Netgear, MikroTik, eeroValue and home gear

Resilience and storage

  • Peplink and CradlepointCellular and multi-WAN failover
  • Synology and QNAPBackup and file storage

Identity and zero trust

  • Cloudflare Zero TrustSecure access without a VPN
  • Microsoft 365 and EntraMFA and conditional access
  • Google WorkspaceMFA and account hardening
  • DuoMulti-factor authentication

Open source: network

  • pfSense and OPNsenseFirewalls
  • OpenWrt and VyOSRouting and Wi-Fi
  • WireGuard and OpenVPNVPN
  • Pi-hole and AdGuard HomeDNS filtering

Open source: ops and security

  • Proxmox VEVirtualization
  • TrueNASStorage
  • Zabbix, LibreNMS, Grafana, Prometheus, Uptime KumaMonitoring
  • Suricata, Zeek, Security Onion, WazuhDetection
  • Home AssistantSmart home integration

Product names are trademarks of their respective owners. Angle of Attack is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.

How a project runs

Process

Five steps, in this order, on every project.

  1. 01

    Scoping call

    A short conversation about the space, the people using it, and what is going wrong today. You get a written scope and an honest answer on fit.

  2. 02

    Survey

    I walk the space with measurement tools, record what the building does to Wi-Fi, and mark where cable can run.

  3. 03

    Design and quote

    You receive a floor plan with access point locations, an equipment list, and a written quote for my work. The licensed cabling contractor quotes the cable runs separately. Nothing is ordered before you approve it.

  4. 04

    Installation

    The licensed contractor installs the cabling and bills you directly. I configure the network and check that every port is labeled and live.

  5. 05

    Verify and hand over

    Signal and throughput tests at every mapped spot, compared against the design targets. You keep the results, a network diagram, and a credentials sheet.

Questions

Straight answers

Is a mesh kit enough?

In an apartment or a small open home, often yes. In a larger or older house with cable access to each floor, wired access points are usually steadier. The survey settles it with measurements.

Do I keep the passwords and equipment?

Yes. You get an admin account, a written credentials sheet, and a network diagram at handover.

Can you fix only the Wi-Fi?

Yes. Many problems come from placement, channels, and settings, and need no new cable.

Do you run the cable yourself?

Cabling is installed by a licensed contractor I work with, under its own agreement and invoice. I design the layout, specify the cable, and verify the results.

What does a security review cover?

Firewall rules and firmware, exposed services, segmentation, remote access, and wireless settings. The scope is agreed in writing before anything is scanned, and you receive a ranked list of fixes.

Where do you work?

On site across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, centered on the San Gabriel Valley. Security reviews, network design, and care plans are also delivered remotely to businesses anywhere in the US. On-site work farther away is available by arrangement, with travel billed. Cabling is always installed by a contractor licensed in the state where the work is.

Get started

Request a visit

Describe the space and what is going wrong. If you ran the Wi-Fi planner, one click adds its result to your message.

Email
hello@angleofattack.io
On site
Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties
Remote
Anywhere in the US