Device & Network Hardening

Knowing the front door is unlocked helps nobody if it stays unlocked. This is the hands-on version: we do the work, on your devices, with you there.

That means changing the default credentials your router almost certainly still has, turning off the remote-management features it almost certainly still exposes, keeping the smart devices away from the computers holding your tax returns, switching on disk encryption, and getting two-factor authentication onto the accounts where losing access would actually ruin a week — email, banking, and whichever account can reset all the others.

We also set up backups that run on their own, because a backup that depends on somebody remembering is not a backup.

Prices reflect the time these engagements normally take. Where a service is priced by size, pick the tier matching whichever part of the description is larger for you — a small house with a great many devices belongs in the higher tier. If what we find on the day goes beyond the tier you picked, we will tell you before starting and agree any additional time with you first. We never bill for extra time you have not agreed to.

How it works

1. Inventory

   We list what is actually on your network. This step routinely turns up devices people had forgotten were connected.

2. The work

   Router, Wi-Fi, computers, phones and tablets configured to a sensible baseline, with you watching so nothing is a mystery afterwards.

3. Handover

   A short written record of what changed and why, including anything worth keeping an eye on.

Often added to this

When we confirm the details by email, mention any of these — or we will suggest one if it fits — and it goes on the same invoice as the main work.

• Extra time

  $150/hour

  When what we find goes past what was booked. Always agreed with you before it starts, never billed afterwards as a surprise.

• Password manager setup

  $150

  Choosing one, setting it up on every device, moving existing passwords into it, and a short lesson so it actually gets used.

• Backups that have been tested

  $225

  A backup for the machines that matter, and a restore of something real to prove it works. A backup nobody has restored from is a hope, not a backup.

• Router or firewall replacement

  $150 plus hardware

  When what you have cannot be made safe. We recommend one, you buy it, we install and configure it while we are there.

• Follow-up check

  $150

  A remote session a month or two later to confirm what was set up is still in place, updates are landing, and nothing new has crept in.

The full list of add-ons