Home Networking as a Hobby Gone Crazy

[amirm]

I think Ubiquiti started this craze with people overbuilding home networks as a hobby. To some extent this is fine but I must say, I didn't know people had driven it this far:

 

[kyuu]

Heck, I'm using a little 6U wall-mount rack with a managed PoE switch, a small UPS, NAS, and some other bits and bobs and I consider that already way overbuilt for a home network. There are actual (small) businesses that run their entire operation with less equipment than is in that rack.

 

[pablolie]

I work in networking. Top virtues in networking are efficiency and simplicity. So that is just plain stupid, sorry.

 

[amirm]

I too have a small swinging rack that hosts my NAS, switches and patch panel. I guess if I had more space, I would stuff it more too.

 

[mhardy6647]

Things are much more modest here. Much more modest.

 

[Berwhale]

I got rid of the 42U rack I had at home 10 years ago. I kept some of the internal racking and cable management trays as they were useful.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

I have two routers, some switches, and a small NAS. It's adequate for a two story house. It was built with some cabling in the walls and has a small plug board.

 

[Petrushka]

I know a little about managing networks and firewalls, but I’m retired and lazy. I have no interest in managing WIFI. I just have an eero mesh router and haven’t had to think about it.

Sonos complainers on Reddit hate me, because I have no connection problems. Every once in a while I have internet lapses, but I suspect it’s the internet provider.

 

[Berwhale]

Also, he says he has 'dual fibre WAN' whilst pointing at two copper cables

 

[Doodski]

That is a impressive looking array of networking gear. I thought I made it big time when I had a SmoothWall, a notebook and 3 desktop computers all at one desktop surface for running windows and Linux stuff/for learning about Linux OSs. Good times but I have not used Linux for maybe 12 years now. I have a notebook with a i5 processor and it is reaching end of life with Windows due to Win 11 and slowing down considerably so I think I will install a Linux Distro and make it as it is now, for checking the weather and a for email 24/7 duty.

 

[beeface]

I like looking at r/homelab to gawk at the stuff people put in their homes. If nothing else, at least a lot of people seem to use e-waste

Personally, I work in IT and prefer to not do IT stuff when I’m not at work. My old personal laptop has been delegated to Plex server.

 

[Madlop26]

My 2-story house is smart, I mean, i run home assistant with hundreds of automatizations, with cameras, sensor smart lights, shade, fans and switches, all handled by small NUC, PoE switches and 3 small Mesh Eero routers, which can also handle 3 people streaming HD independently, NAS with 20 TB; Hardware is small and most hidden behind furniture. What Amir showed is so overshoot, is technophoolery.

 

[pablolie]

I know a little about managing networks and firewalls, but I’m retired and lazy. I have no interest in managing WIFI. I just have an eero mesh router and haven’t had to think about it.

Sonos complainers on Reddit hate me, because I have no connection problems. Every once in a while I have internet lapses, but I suspect it’s the internet provider.

The fewer equipment, the less problems you'll have. Shortest path always. My home network consists of an 8 port 2.5GE switch and a good broadband router with WiFi6. That's that.

I do have a full featured 400G router at home but that's just for lab stuff. No way would I put it in there “in production" because it is an unnecessary complication and those are never good.

 

[kyuu]

Should probably be careful not to criticize too much, as some of the racks of A/V gear members around here have might be considered "home audio as a hobby gone crazy" from some people's viewpoint.

 

[pablolie]

Should probably be careful not to criticize too much, as some of the racks of A/V gear members around here have might be considered "home audio as a hobby gone crazy" from some people's viewpoint.

But that serves a purpose to a certain degree. Stacking up switches and placing access points next to each other does not.

 

[kyuu]

But that serves a purpose to a certain degree. Stacking up switches and placing access points next to each other does not.

Depends. It may seem pointless to you, but for those who are into networking as a hobby having a lot of ports, management, etc. might be necessary or simply desirable what they want to do. I mean, you can get a couple of Bluetooth speakers that will put out sound just the same as those giant speakers and racks of gear.

Also, what is this about placing access points next to each other? If you're referring to mesh access points, those are great and anyone who lives in a home bigger than a one bedroom apartment should really be using them.

 

[Martin]

Wow. I have a Comcast Arris Surfboard cable modem connected to a 5-port Netgear switch which is in turn connected to an Arris Wi-Fi 6 Mesh system. I have a Synology NAS hanging off the Netgear switch. I have devices scattered all over our home connected via Wi-Fi. Only my home and work PCs are wired into the Netgear switch. I can stream 4K to all our TVs and FLAC from the NAS to piCorePlayer in another room. Suits my needs perfectly.

Martin

 

[DWPress]

Starlink, 3 buildings, 4 routers and all are connected via ethernet to make it as durable as possible with Roon endpoints everywhere, 3 Apple TVs and a Plex server. Had a minor blip power outage last week and still haven't been able to get my "smart thermostat" to work with my backup heat air exchanger because it's all wifi through their app and the router refuses to let the stupid thing into the network again.

I absolutely hate having to troubleshoot networking. Kudos to those that do!

 

[JeffS7444]

It certainly explains the existence of this series of capsule toys:

 

[AdamG]

This is what my network looks like when my wife peeks behind the AV rack….and that’s after I have tidied up and dusted…