As the self appointed tech support for family and friends I’m seeing a growing trend/need I think in people needing help and advice in setting up a home network. I think there is market for this but I realize it may already being filled with the likes of Best Buy Geek Squad and Nerds In Site (Canada at least)
I believe most people have no clue what is at risk when using the internet and installing various “smart devices” on their home networks.
Pretty much everyone I know is running the ISP provided router/modem, reuse weak passwords etc
Whether people are willing to pay for this kind of service is another story however. They have to be convinced of the various threats that lurk and what they can do to better safeguard their privacy and data, as well as their children.
I would recommend Peplink routers to customers if willing to upgrade their equipment. But the very least would be to secure what they currently have as much as is possible and make recommendations on security best practices.
Was hoping people would comment on it share their experiences.
In my experience, home networks are typically all cobbled together badly on the cheap and there is no sensible money to do anything well.
If you want to provide a service, you’d be better off using something like anydesk to offer remote desktop support for fixing issues, then upsell Peplink products to those who can afford it and have a demand for improved network management and monitoring.
That said, rural business customers and home workers are an easier tribe of users to sell services to. Particularly because you can often sell them managed cellular connectivity because they are on crap DSL, so they immediately see the value in working with you. And since they go from hardly any internt access to bucketloads there is also the opportunity to help them understand how they can now use cloud based tools to improve their work, so you get training and the reselling of things like office 365. Plus you also get to really improve the lives and businesses of these customers which makes for a great sense of pride day to day.
I’ve been thinking about remote access lately as well to assist family. Hadn’t looked into it yet but will definitely look into AnyDesk. Especially since I’ve now switched to Linux but family is still using Mac and a Windows, have a tool like that will be ideal.
I’ll test the waters with family and friends and see how it goes.
My mother could sure use a Peplink surf soho though too.