San Gabriel Plazas, Restaurants and Homes

San Gabriel is a commercial town as much as a residential one. Strip plazas along Valley Boulevard and San Gabriel Boulevard are packed with restaurants, bakeries, medical offices, tutoring centers and shops, and just behind them are quiet streets of older houses.

Plazas with shared walls

Many shops here sit in a strip with neighbors on both sides and a shared back alley. That creates specific problems. Network gear is often stuffed into a storage closet. A camera at the back door covers a service alley that several tenants use. And a signal from the router at the front barely reaches the kitchen. I set up a proper switch, run cable to the kitchen or office, and place cameras at the front, the counter and the back. Before I mount anything on a shared exterior wall, I check with the landlord.

Point of sale and printers

A restaurant lives or dies on a few devices: the register, the kitchen printer, the card reader and a tablet or two. When one of them stops talking to the network at the wrong moment, it is rarely clear why. I trace it from the device to the router, find what is failing and explain it plainly. Wired connections for the register and the printer take away most of the guessing.

Houses

Behind the commercial streets, many homes are stucco bungalows and ranch houses from the 1920s through the 1950s, often with a garage unit in back. Plaster walls and long narrow floor plans mean the back rooms get a poor signal. I add wired access points and use the attic for the runs.

Computers

A slow PC at the front desk can cost a business real time. I can look at it while I am there for the network.

By the mission

San Gabriel is a long drive east from Van Nuys, near the historic mission. Call or write and I will plan a walkthrough.