ABOUT ME
My name is Matt Crawford and I currently work as the Chief Network Architect for Edge Networking at Glide UK, based in Bristol, UK.
​
I’ve been in the IT industry since 2009. Starting out with a placement year as a 1st line IT support technician for a little IT support company on the outskirts of bristol. Cutting my teeth on IT support for small business across the south-west. Dealing with Windows server 2008. migrating clients from Windows XP to Vista and then win7. Dealt with deploying Mcaffee Antivirus and fell in love with configuring routers for clients.
​
Once I completed my studies of Computer Science at the University Of West England, I got a job at a company as a Technical Engineer delivering IT network services to the UK and European Events Industry. This is where I was introduced to Ruckus Networks, Mikrotik, Cisco Systems, and many more networking technologies. This is where I fell in love with networking and wireless in particular. I worked on over 250 odd events in a 4 1/2 year period with highlights being T in the Park, Royal Windsor Horse shows, Geneva Motor show, London Boat Show and Goodwood Festival of Speed. In this time period, I got to grips with Outdoor Wi-FI and Wireless Point to Points. Using a Mixture of Ruckus, Cambium and LigoWave.
I then fancied a slower pace of life and wanted to build on my wired networking knowledge. So I moved to a small ISP in the centre of Bristol. This is where I learnt a great deal about Cisco technologies and passed my first certifications. Passing CCENT, CCNA R&S and CCNP R&S. I also got introduced to VMware ESXi and ended up managing all of the ISP VMware infrastructures and got acquainted with Veem. Within my time I learnt a lot and got practical skills in Cisco MPLS, BGP, OSPF and Cisco ASA firewalls.
​
I then moved over to ComputerWorld in May 2018 to become their Technical Architect to design wired and wireless networks for small to medium size companies across the UK. It was here that I studied and passed CWNP's Certified Wireless Network Administrator exam. It is here that I have been introduced to Dell EMC Networking, VMware NSX, Barracuda Firewalls, Aerohive Wireless and reacquainted with Ruckus.
​
In May 2019 I moved again to Glide UK in a role as Network Architect for edge networking. In this role, I am apart of the Product Team that designs, test, industrialises and implements the latest technology into the Glide eco-system. the Main vendors are Cisco, Ruckus, Aruba, Mikrotik & Juniper.
​
2020 has been a tough and busy year for me. I decided to use COVID19 lockdown to improve my knowledge and progress down the CWNP's certificates. it started in June 2020 passing the Ekahau Certified Survey Engineer - Design course. Then after 15 months of on and off study, I passed the CWNP's Certified Wireless Analysis Professional (CWAP) Exam. I then had the opportunity to get my hands on Juniper Mist APs and went through the certified training to become Mist Certifed. To round off the year, I was promoted to Chief Network Architect and in December 2020 I passed CWNP's Certified Wireless Security Professional (CWSP). The last exam way to obtaining CWNP's Certified Wireless Network Expert (CWNE). In March 2021 I was accepted as CWNE number 425.
​
Disclaimers
The posts and opinions on this site are my own and do not represent the views of my employer.
Unauthorised use or duplication of any material without consent from the author is strictly prohibited.
All content is for informational purposes only and mcwireless will not be liable for any losses, injuries or damages arising from its use.
