I found Bay Area Tech Hero while searching for a network specialist to install Ethernet wired…read morebackhaul in our older (1950s-60s) home that had been renovated but still lacked proper networking. Since they seem to handle a lot of corporate-scale installations, I initially wondered if my project might be too small--but that concern disappeared pretty quickly. The team was already very familiar with Ubiquiti systems and was incredibly patient working with me despite my fairly basic understanding. They walked me through the tradeoffs and ultimately recommended stepping up from mid-range equipment to more professional-grade options. The reasoning was clear, the cost/benefit made sense, and at no point did I feel pressured--just well-advised. The actual Ethernet installation work was top-notch--smurf tubing, recessed (not sticking out!) enclosures, and everything. The level of craftsmanship and attention to detail is honestly beyond what I would normally expect (or even feel comfortable demanding from contractors). They went above and beyond without being asked, and the cable organization is immaculate. Huge thanks to Justin and John for their precision and quality of work, and to Jim and Rodrigo for their thoughtful recommendations on equipment and access point placement. If you're looking for a team that combines technical expertise with professionalism and genuine care, I'd absolutely recommend them.

We didn't hire Bay Area Tech Hero - so we cannot comment on service quality. The reason we didn't…read morehire this team was primarily due to pricing. The quote we received for 3x cable runs was 400% more than the team we hired, and that team said their pricing was "average pricing." We also were quoted the highest end hardware, which would have been excessive for our needs. If you can afford to shop around and the timing of your project allows, we highly suggest shopping around!

Hourly rate too expensive $150 an hour, then a travel charge on top of that. A reasonable rate…read morewould be $90 an hour, depending on the complexity of the job and the skill level very easy, to difficult. For super difficult I could see $150 an hour depending on what is being delivered. Better to buy a Pro Support package with your computer manufacturer.

The owner Jim is an amazing person. He is smart. He's intelligent he's friendly. He's kind. I was…read moreso happy to find someone who could work on my Apple computers at a very reasonable price and he is extremely honest. He fixed both my computers in less than two hours.

We realized one of the most important decisions for our new home was choosing a whole home…read morenetworking system with lots of capacity and capability. As a consultant, I work from home and my wife works from home most days, so we needed a great system that accommodates lots of video calls, as well as home security, entertainment, a growing list of indoor and outdoor app-controlled devices, and strong wifi access for friends, colleagues, and family who stop by. And we also know that, in the future, nearly everything will need to be connected to the network. After weeks of searching for a solution, we discovered Brilliant Connectivity, which designs and installs Ubiquiti Unifi networking systems, the finest high-performance networks and wireless products on the market. Daniel G, the owner and founder, is a senior IT expert with deep knowledge and experience using Ubiquiti products to create customized networking solutions for his clients. And his installer, Rafael, did an excellent and clean installation that covers our entire house, upstairs, downstairs, interior and exterior. It is our pleasure to give Brilliant Connectivity our highest recommendation. Thanks to them, we have a home networking solution that meets all of our needs, and there are no more frustrating IT glitches and time-consuming DIY fixes to deal with. Thank you, Daniel and Rafael!

I brought in Brilliant Connectivity to do a WiFi upgrade for my employer, who was having a lot of…read moreconnectivity issues trying to work from his office in his large Alamo home. Daniel & Raphael are a great team and they do very clean work - friendly, professional, and super fast. They got the whole place wired up and humming within a day. Additionally, I hired them to take care of a home w/ a guest house in Napa, and the guys dialed in that property too. Getting them great coverage through the main ranch house and then running a trench to wire up the guest house in the back of the property. 5 stars!

Another good experience with First Tech Networks and John Jiang…read more He installed a Doorbird entry system for us a few years ago and it was malfunctioning. John responded to my emails on a Sunday evening and he even power-cycled the system for us, which temporarily restored functionality. John contacted Doorbird on our behalf; happily, Doorbird were able to make a remote fix for us.

Since December of 2016, I have been a loyal customer of John's for a reason - his products and…read moreservices have never disappointed me. Initially, when I was in search of a top-notch security camera system, I explored the options of buying and setting up one by myself. Residing in a three-story building, I understood the importance of having a reliable security system in place.

I recently had my Cameras NVR PoE system installed by Enrique, Ricardo and one of their team…read moremembers. I also had 4 ethernet data lines installled. Their work was swift, professional and neat. They provided family friendly quotes for the bid. I went with them over a big company, cause they were brothers, wanted to give a family a chance over a corporation. I will do work with them in the future and recommend to others. Blessings to your business and familes.

They were highly organized. Everything went smoothly and according to the plan. The quality of…read moretheir work justifies the price. On top of that they were kind and a pleasure to work with.

It's not often you come across someone in business who reminds you that basic human kindness still…read moreexists. Jake at Barker Tech did that for my wife and me. Our home has an older AV system installed years ago by another contractor. Over time, the system became outdated, complicated, and the contractor became harder to reach and increasingly expensive. My wife and I separated several years ago, but she still lives in the home and has always struggled with the universal remote and the setup's complexity. Recently, she called me in distress because she couldn't turn on the television in the living room. Under normal circumstances, that would be a small inconvenience. But my wife is currently battling stage-four ovarian cancer and only has a few months left. All she wanted was the simple comfort of sitting on the couch and watching TV. I called Jake and explained the situation. Without hesitation, he said he would come take a look. The next day, he and one of his technicians, Wilson, showed up and spent over an hour patiently troubleshooting the system until they got everything working again. When the work was finished, I asked what I owed him. Jake said there would be no charge given my wife's condition. I was honestly taken back. In a world where it often feels like everything is transactional, Jake chose compassion instead. This wasn't just good service, it was humanity, and I'll never forget that kindness. If you're looking for someone who truly cares about his clients and takes pride in his work, Barker Tech is the real deal.

I'm torn writing this because I honestly want to keep Barker Tech a secret so they're always…read moreavailable when I have an issue! But the work Jake has done is too good not to share. I previously used a big Bay Area AV/home automation company. I spent over six figures on the initial install when I was rebuilding my house, and after that, every "fix" cost thousands. They had me on a Savant system where even a simple upgrade--like adding a new Apple TV 4K--was quoted at $4,000 because I needed new video cards. I was tired of the "gatekeeping" and not being able to make simple changes myself. I hired Jake to fix the mess, and Barker Tech has been incredible. He didn't just patch things up. he completely updated my network and AV, removed the bloated Savant system, and simplified my entire home automation setup. The result? A system that is high-end, significantly more dependable and simple, I'm able to DIY some things and I don't need to worry about explaining to my wife why a simple change to the system costs more than our first car we bought. The responsiveness is what really sets them apart. I recently had a troubleshooting issue: Jake responded within 5 minutes and had it totally resolved in 15 minutes. Barker Tech feels "too good to be true" because the knowledge and attention to detail are world-class, but the prices are actually reasonable. If you're tired of being overcharged by the big firms, call Jake. (Just don't take up all his time!)

Kurtis's team set our house up with a wired and wireless network and security cameras. He also…read moremounted our TV on the wall and hid all cables to make it fit well in our living room. Aside from being very knowledgeable about his domain, Kurtis and his team are also able to think creatively about different solutions. The pathway they created for all the wiring took them a great deal of effort, but it's almost invisible, both inside and outside the house. Their team worked tirelessly to make sure everything was installed well while maintaining the esthetic of our house. Asking for small adjustments, like lowering the TV after the first installment or removing older cameras, was never an issue. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Kurtis, and I'd be more than happy to approach him again for future projects.

We had our house-wide theater system upgrade and wifi mesh installation done by Kurtis and his very…read moreprofessional team 18 months ago. I just ran into him and seeing him reminded me that I meant to write a review after I decided whether their work was worth the money. Ours was probably a small-to-mid-size job for him, but it felt big to us, and Kurtis and team were sensitive to our concerns, as well as very efficient at getting the job done. We have been extremely happy with our new TVs with upgraded sound, our extended wifi, and mind-blowing theater system in our "man cave". I 100% recommend Kurtis Company.

Alan is one of those guys that you meet that on first blush may seem like he's selling you a lot of…read moregear you don't need. I'm a former technology journalist and he had stuff I hadn't heard of. I ran his gear past people in the know who said "yeah, that's good." A sidenote: Sometimes Alan is slow to get back to you on phone or iMessage. He's booked solid. I don't like it any more than you do. But in the bay every single good professional is like this, because they are inundated with calls and need to do in-person evaluations to do a good job. I wish the world was easier too guys. Sorry. Alan did a giant (119") 1080p surround sound installation in my loft in Oakland late last year. It was costly, and Alan worked with me to bring down said cost with explanations behind every bit of rational and actual links to what he was getting. Alan also let me use gear I already had, which meant that the actual installation itself was quite confusing to look at at the end. I was furious, and not particularly nice to Alan afterward thinking he'd broken everything. No, what he'd actually done was an intricate, cost-effective amp/ethernet installation, built through the *ceiling*, leading to my aged receiver, to the speakers I had provided. In essence, if you know stuff about a/v, once you bring in someone's potentially bashed-up gear into the situation it effectively is a gamble to see what will work with what. Alan not only made it all work, including with a receiver that I would frankly describe as aged, he recommended the right places to save money to still have the effect I wanted - an awesome home theater. It came out looking and sounding amazing, and more importantly removable. He taught me in a non-condescending manner what he did and why he did it, and made a clear promise (and actually booked time to) fix any problems. There were no problems. Any anger I had was that I didn't understand how it worked and the only criticism I could give was Alan didn't leave a manual of his work. Alan is not cheap. Alan is also - and I use this term very rarely - an actual artist. He wants the thing to look and sound perfect. I just hired Alan to do a second job he has not started yet, and he talked me OUT of spending $3000+ on a new projector screen and $2000 on a new projector, telling me to keep my quite-adequate plasma screen, as it'd be just as good. I am sort of a gadget/network person and know what I'm talking about. If you want a cheap guy to do an okay job, don't hire Alan. Don't waste is time. He will charge what he charges for the gear at the price it comes out at (if not cheaper, and believe me I've checked). If you want someone to put down some cheap CAT cables and some HDMI cables he found on Monoprice and Amazon, give them a call. Alan is an actual professional who knows a lot. I take umbrage at anyone claiming Alan "focuses on dollars more than customer service." My own personal experience, even when I was not the most calm (calling him at 2:30am GMT from England, where I was at the time of installation), is that he cares more about customer service than most A/V people I've run into. And knows more than them too. Overall, what you get is the closest you can to professional at a consumer price. It's not cheap. It never will be if you want something that'll last, sound good and look good. If you want constant download speeds/constant signal throughout your home, Alan is going to find *what will do it.* To S.B.: I do not know specifically what equipment you were left with by Alan, however I have spoken to him about the networking gear he uses, which (I used to sell WIFI/WAN/LAN gear commercially) is Unifi/Ubiquiti gear. This prices much the same as a Netgear Nighthawk/high-end ASUS router, and gives superior service all around. Alan is not just a guy who knows things about audio/visual, he is actually very smart and knows about networking gear too. I do not believe you were sold a $1000 router. I imagine you were sold a $1000 setup which would cover your entire house. The WIFI never really working properly? Not really sure. And if it's 5x the price of a Mac airport - your comparison point - I'm gonna go ahead and say your knowledge on networking product is deficient. That's an $84.99 or $184.99 router, and if you're using that as a comparison point you're not buying a Netgear Nighthawk, Asus AC87U or Unifi AP AC - all of which are on the upper end of the routing scale and are the only routers a real professional would use. If your new guy used these as your comparison points. If you want your signal and your download speeds to be consistent and the signal to be constant across the house, you need good gear. This is not cheap gear and Alan is not a "cheap" provider who "just gets things done." I've got no fiscal benefit in having him around. I choose to spend tens of thousands of dollars with the man because he's just that damn good.

You may note that Alan hasn't had a review on here for many years. That's because his business has…read moregone down hill fast and things are not good. We've had multiple AV professionals in our house over the years and we've also had Alan. There is a major difference between the two. Cutting corners, sloppy work, and long delays are the norm. Not to mention he will put a lien on your house and threaten you with legal action if things don't work out. Trust me. Avoid. At. All. Costs.

We had a great first meeting and were waiting for a quote that never came. We were straight-up…read moreghosted. We reached out multiple times in a variety of ways and never heard back. We can only speculate that somehow our project needs were not big enough for them to want to work with us? We can't know what happened because they simply stopped communicating with us. Sad but true. For this reason, I have to say their business is not to be reccomended.

Wow just realized I never updated the review. After paying Cham to come out, and to come back, and…read moreto come back, and to come back...each time a new person who complain d bout the last persona work. I finally gave up and went with another service. He was great when it was new and a big bill. Not great when you need to get his worked fixed right.

I am so happy with this company! My technician was Mike. He was calm, friendly, and I did not feel…read morerushed when talking to him. If you're in SF they will pickup and deliver for free, which is amazing! He diagnosed over the phone, got the battery in, then picked up fixed and delivered back same day. He also cleaned out the dust. He also showed me the battery settings and info and told me how to use the battery to keep it long lasting. For any women reading this, I felt safe letting him in my apt. No wierd vibes.

Very responsive and went above and beyond for replacing a laptop battery. Mike was able to do a…read morehouse call and the replacement took about an hour. The Apple Store said they needed 3-5 days and also cost more!