My career path has more hops than my traceroute #
I'm Skyler King — a Cloud/Network Engineering student, homelab enthusiast, and emo/punk rock fan. I document everything from breaking OSPF in the lab to fixing critical infrastructure in production.
⚡ Current Status #
Role: Pursuing Entry-Level Networking Roles
Focus: Cisco Enterprise Networking, Automation, & Network Security
School: WGU (B.S. Cisco, Cloud & Network Engineering)
🏆 Recent Wins #
Real-world problems I’ve solved:
- 🚑 Critical Infrastructure Rescue: Saved ~$15k in operational delays by diagnosing and fixing a critical IPsec VPN tunnel failure that had downed a production licensing server.
- 🛡️ Enterprise Network Segmentation: Improved network performance by 30% and eliminated VLAN 1 security vulnerabilities by migrating from a flat network to a secure, 7-VLAN architecture with dedicated management VLAN.
- 🚀 Rapid Site Deployment: Built the IT infrastructure for a newly acquired office (25 workstations + conferencing) from zero to full operation in just 48 hours.
🗒️ Certifications #
Validated skills. No paper tigers here.
| Badge | Certification | Date |
|---|---|---|
| CLOUD+ | CompTIA Cloud+ | Dec 2025 |
| CBROPS | CCNA Cybersecurity | Jun 2025 |
| CCNA | Cisco Certified Network Associate | Feb 2025 |
| ITIL 4 | ITIL Foundation | Jun 2024 |
| LPI | Linux Essentials | May 2024 |
| A+ | CompTIA A+ | Mar 2024 |
🛠️ The Stack (Lab & Prod) #
- Hardware: Cisco (Routers/Switches), Ubiquiti Unifi, Custom Proxmox Nodes
- Software: OPNsense, Docker, Splunk, Wireshark
- Automation: Python, Ansible, Terraform
🔥 Featured Projects #
Local AI Coding Agent (Ollama + Aider) #
Deployed a fully localized, privacy-first AI coding assistant using Ollama and Aider to eliminate external API dependencies and subscription costs.
Key Achievements:
- Achieved 100% code privacy with an air-gapped, zero-cost LLM inference engine
- Provisioned a dedicated Ubuntu VM for resource-isolated AI workloads
- Integrated Aider CLI for seamless, terminal-based AI pair programming and automated Git commits
- Established secure API access controls across isolated network VLANs
VLAN Segmentation & Security Hardening #
Redesigned my homelab network from an insecure flat configuration to a properly segmented architecture following industry best practices.
Key Achievements:
- Eliminated VLAN 1 security vulnerabilities
- Implemented secure native VLAN (999) to prevent VLAN hopping attacks
- Created dedicated management network (VLAN 99) for administrative access
- Deployed 7-VLAN architecture isolating home, malware analysis, homelab, servers, IoT, and management traffic
Read My Full Story Explore The Lab View All Projects