Remote Sysadmin Help: One-Hour Troubleshooting Call

It happens: the router glitches, VPN won’t come up, mail stops flowing, and there’s no in-house admin, or the one you have is just as stuck as you are. What you need isn’t a long project, it’s one-off help from a sysadmin who can take a quick look and tell you what’s going on. That’s exactly what this service covers: a remote sysadmin digs into your specific problem and hands you a fix plan.

What’s included

• A call or chat where you describe the problem
• Review of the hardware or service configuration
• Root cause analysis
• A fix plan, and if there’s time left, the fix itself

How it works

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1. You describe the problem. Short and plain: what broke, when it started, what you’ve already tried.
2. Call or chat, up to an hour. I go through the configuration, check logs or settings, and ask follow-up questions as we go.
3. Fix plan, or a fix right away. If the problem is simple and fits in the hour, I fix it on the spot. If not, you get a step-by-step plan for what to do next.

What hardware do you need

No special hardware is needed for a consultation. I work with whatever you already have: router, server, switch, cloud service. I adapt to the task depending on what’s broken.

What gets deployed

Nothing gets deployed during a one-off consultation. This is troubleshooting and diagnostics of your existing system, not installing new hardware or software. If the review shows you need something set up from scratch, that’s a separate job.

What you get at the end

A clear understanding of what’s causing the problem and a plan to fix it. If the problem is simple and fits inside the hour, you get it fixed right there, no extra calls needed.

Pricing

A consultation on MikroTik, a server, or a network starts at $35 per hour. If one hour isn’t enough, each additional hour is billed separately.

After delivery: Not required.

What I need from you

• A description of the problem: what’s not working and since when
• Access to the hardware or service, or a config export
• Up to one hour of your time for the call
• Willingness to answer follow-up questions during the review

FAQ

Is this really remote?

Yes, it’s fully remote: a call or chat, with access to your hardware via remote connection or a config export.

How long does the consultation take?

The base format is up to one hour. If the problem isn’t solved in that time, further work is billed separately by the hour.

What if I don’t have access to the server right now?

Set up access or export the config ahead of the call. Without it, solving the problem within an hour gets hard, since time goes toward logistics instead of the actual troubleshooting.

What if we don’t figure it out in an hour?

You get a fix plan describing what to do next. If you need to continue the troubleshooting or implement the fix, that’s a separate time-based arrangement.

Do I need support after the consultation?

No, there’s no ongoing support after a one-off consultation. This is a single troubleshooting session, not continuous maintenance.

Does this work for MikroTik troubleshooting?

Yes, MikroTik consultations are one of the most common requests: I review the router config, find the root cause of network or VPN issues, and either hand you a plan or fix it on the spot.

Related reading

• DynDNS: a complete guide to setting up dynamic DNS on a router, Keenetic, and MikroTik, free and pain-free
• MikroTik RouterOS compatibility: a device and architecture table, and how not to brick your hardware
• MSS on MikroTik: why half of all websites won’t load and how to fix it