I am available for contract work and advisory roles.

Built properly.
Kept running.

Route Mechanics is 25+ years of hands-on network engineering, applied with a mechanic's discipline. ISPs, data centres and operators get the engineer, not an account manager: someone who inspects before touching anything, finds the real cause, and fixes it properly.

Book an introductory call How I work

engineer ....: Timothy Arnold
experience ..: 25+ years
networks ....: ISPs, data centres, operators
protocols ...: BGP, IS-IS, MPLS, EVPN/VXLAN
tooling .....: Python, Ansible, APIs
method ......: inspect › diagnose › repair › sign off
workshop ....: Birmingham, UK

25+ yearshands-on in service-provider networks

Design → rundesigned, built and operated networks from the ground up

Multi-VendorJuniper, Cisco, Palo Alto

1 engineerthe one you speak to does the work

// the method

Every job, done the same way.
That's what you're paying for.

Complicated systems get easier when you work through them methodically, one component at a time. Whether it's one BGP session or a whole network, every engagement follows the same four operations.

op 10
Inspect
Survey the network as it really is, not as it was drawn. Nothing is touched until it's understood.
You get: An honest picture of where things stand.
op 20
Diagnose
Trace the problem methodically through each system to its true cause, not the first plausible one.
You get: The real reason, in plain English.
op 30
Repair
Fix the cause, not the symptom, and build it properly so it stays fixed.
You get: A problem that doesn't come back.
op 40
Sign off
Test it, document it and hand it over. Leave it better than it was found.
You get: A written record your team can maintain.

// services

Where the method gets applied

Each engagement is scoped and priced in writing before any work starts.

01 · network audit

Know where your risk is

An independent review with a plain-English summary for leadership and a prioritised plan of what to fix first.

Typically when: Before a board review, an acquisition or a contract renewal, or after a near miss.

02 · architecture & design

Grow without rebuilding

Architecture your team can build and run, with a migration plan that keeps service up while it happens.

Typically when: You're adding sites, customers or capacity, or replacing equipment at end of life.

03 · automation

Change faster, safely

Tooling your own team can maintain, so routine changes are quicker and less dependent on one person.

Typically when: Changes are slow and manual, keep causing incidents, or depend on one engineer.

04 · incident support

Back up, and staying up

The fault found and fixed at its cause, with a post-incident report you can share with the board.

Typically when: Something is down, degraded or keeps failing, and nobody can say why.

// why route mechanics

Born in the workshop.

Away from routers, I spend my time in the garage working on Land Rovers. A Defender is honest engineering: separate, serviceable systems bolted to a common frame. You understand each one, isolate the fault, and repair it with the right tools and a bit of patience.

A well-built network is exactly the same. Whether it's a knock from the transfer case or a BGP session flapping at an exchange, the discipline doesn't change. That's why Route Mechanics exists: to bring a mechanic's method to the networks businesses depend on.

I have been a network engineer since 2001, working for ISPs, data centres and operators in the UK and internationally. I have designed, built and run networks from the ground up, and fixed them when they broke.