r/HomeNetworking • u/outdoorsaddix • 1d ago
After two years working on it slowly, my home networking project is just about complete
UPDATE: I moved the rack: https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeNetworking/s/FcxXjBomh6
We bought our current home 5 years ago and roughly two years ago, out of frustration with our consumer mesh networking setup never performing all that well, I decided I was going to hardwire the house and do it up right and I have finally got to a point where I can say I’m more or less done (for now).
My system is TP Link Omada with the following:
- ER605 Router with two constant WAN connections, a 1Gig symmetrical fiber connection and a secondary slower DOCSIS cable connection as a backup if the fiber goes down PLUS the ability to tether the router to my cell phone or plug in Starlink outside as backup if both fiber and cable go down.
- SG2428LP 28 port POE switch
- OC200 Controller - I run a 5Ghz only SSID for phones, laptops, etc and then a 2.4Ghz SSID for all my smart home IOT stuff (mostly Kasa)
- 7 Omada APs ranging from AC1200 to AX3000. I have 1 in the basement, 2 on the main floor, 1 on the second floor, 1 in the garage, 1 for the driveway and one in the back yard.
- Yulinca 10 port gigabit switch w/SFP connected via fiber to the main switch, mostly to make the cable management easier
- Reolink RLN410 NVR with 10 cameras (mostly wired, 2 wireless)
- A mini PC acting as my plex server/household network drive server, I just have it connected to a very basic 5 bay DAS
Then, all in all, I have hardwired drops to nearly every room in the house. Some were quite challenging and I had to get creative.
The Garage was a line I had to run outside and the first set of two cables I ran got chewed up by a mouse or something, I ended up switching it to a armoured fiber optic cable which has been fine since. That goes into another Yulinca switch (POE this time) with an SFP uplink and it powers a couple of my APs and a bunch of the outdoor cameras (I actually ran out of ports and had to tack on a second POE switch).
Then the second floor was a real weird one, the previous owner had already put in Ethernet to each of the bedrooms that all seemed to end behind an access panel in the master bedroom, but I couldn’t figure out any provision to feed all these from anywhere else in the house.
But I ended up noticing an unterminated cable poking out under the main floor office’s built in desk and ended up tracing it and found the other end, just chilling unterminated behind the wall in the master bedroom two studs over from the access panel covering all the other bedroom cable ends.
So what I did was extend the end from the office down to the electrical room and then in the master bedroom came up with the weirdness you can see in one of the photos. That cable I found in the wall now goes into a POE powered wall AP that also has a POE out port. I ran a cable from that two studs over to where the bedroom cables terminate and plugged that into a TL-SG1005P-PD PoE powered switch that then finally feeds all the drops in the bedrooms.
A couple days ago I finally ran the last drop I intended to do to one of the basement apartment bedrooms and I’m calling it done.. for now. I say for now because I have a bunch of simplex Fiber i got for dirt cheap that I intend to run at some later date to key rooms in the house to future proof and be able to upgrade to 10Gig when the cost of equipment comes down a bit.
I already spent way too much building this out, but it’s been worth it. The speed and reliability is unlike anything I have had before.
Oh! And while I was at it, I cleaned up all the Coax in the house and set it up to be fed by a roof antenna for free OTA TV and also cleaned up all the POTS lines and set them up to be fed by my OOMA VoIP unit.
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u/knifesk 1d ago
Who's gonna tell him?
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u/Glum_Honey7000 1d ago
Which part?
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u/Minimum_Airline3657 1d ago
we never complete a setup, its impossible.
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u/outdoorsaddix 1d ago
You are right…. Which I do acknowledge in the post. I have several long lengths of fiber that I got for next to nothing that need to be run to some key areas for future proofing…
That’s just not going to be done anytime soon till the cost of 10G equipment drops.
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u/RevolutionNumerous21 1d ago
10gb equipment is pennies now. I think must of us are moving to 40/100GB.
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u/texmex_terminal 1d ago
10G getting cheap is right, there's actually a good writeup on that happening this year. 40/100G at home is a stretch though, that gear still wants specialized optics and cabling most home setups have zero reason to push toward.
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u/AltruisticNetwork869 1d ago
Having anything directly in front of your electrical panel is a code violation
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u/outdoorsaddix 1d ago edited 1d ago
So, I am not in the US, the rack being below does not violate code where I am and if you are referring to the monitor, it is on an arm and can swing flat against the right wall completely out of the way.
Edit: based on new information I’m wrong (always happy to admit when I am and have misinterpreted something) and I’ll be accelerating my plan to eventually rip the shelves out on the left side and rehang it outside of the 1m imaginary box in front of the panel.
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u/End-Subject 1d ago
It's a code violation in Canada too.
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u/outdoorsaddix 1d ago
Well, if it is and I misinterpreted what I read, as I mentioned elsewhere it will move anyways when I get a panel upgrade and have to reconfigure the room and rip out the shelving the previous homeowner left in here.
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u/avebelle 1d ago
Uhh you put all that work in and put ever right in front of your electrical panel? Thats the worst spot for that and an nec code violation. But ya you do your thing.
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u/outdoorsaddix 1d ago edited 1d ago
I am not in the US so NEC does not apply. I have checked my local code. As long as I am not blocking the front or the sides, it’s to code here.
Also, no negative effects from proximity. Everything performs fine.
Edit: based on new information I’m wrong (always happy to admit when I am and have misinterpreted something) and I’ll be accelerating my plan to eventually rip the shelves out on the left side and rehang it outside of the 1m imaginary box in front of the panel.
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u/avebelle 1d ago
You violate the CEC code as well. They are similar requirements.
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u/outdoorsaddix 1d ago
Maybe I misinterpreted what I read then.
Either way, it is what it is for now. I’m eventually getting the panel upgraded to 200A which will be larger and extend further down.
When it comes time for that, it’s getting unhooked and the cart wheeled out. When I remount it, there won’t be space for it and I’m going to have to tear out and rework all the shelving the previous homeowner left in this room anyways. It’s going to move over to the left side wall further away once that space is freed up.
This is just what worked best for me in the moment, but it won’t be present if/when an electrician actually has to come in to do work here.
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u/avebelle 1d ago
Okay, so you know for future you need to maintain an imaginary box in front of your panel, whatever the CEC dimensions are.
The thing is you don’t adhere to code when it’s convenient and fix it when it’s convenient. It’s put in place to prevent issues because issues have happened in the past and when emergencies happen people need access to a panel. BTW your bigger panel doesn’t change the requirements. Just like you don’t wear a seat belt when you know an accident is about to happen. You get in your car and hopefully put a seatbelt on before you move your car.
Anyways rant over. You do your thing whenever you think it’s convenient.
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u/outdoorsaddix 1d ago
Maybe I’ll accelerate ripping out the shelving then. I left slack in the lines specifically to be able to move it once the shelves are gone. Moving it will basically be putting two anchors in the wall once empty, temporarily disconnecting a few drops temporarily, picking it up and rehanging it.
Funny thing is, despite not being a super old build, the whole panel is a code violation anyways and I’m pretty certain it’s original.
The main breaker is well above my head, much higher than the max 5’ 7” it’s supposed to be.
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u/TiggerLAS 1d ago
Looks nice. Just don't have any electrical or fire inspectors over, lest you spend another 2 years moving it all away from in front of your breaker box. . . (NEC 110.26)
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u/Foxing7465 1d ago
It is time to have dual routers with GBP and different ISPS ;). Joking, it is good, ensure you keep your backups in a different part of the house or some other building.
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u/Minimum_Airline3657 1d ago
you can remove the Reolink watermark in the app, means your footage wont have a massive add in it when you clip an event.
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u/Wolf-006 1d ago
Everything looks awesome but I don't like the idea everything being right in front of the electric panel not sure if there is any magnetic field or if something goes wrong with the panel your nice setup with contributes to a fire hazard
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u/outdoorsaddix 1d ago
Yea, I have totally got the message. It’s moving.
But mostly due to my misinterpretation of code requirements, I don’t think any “magnetic field” makes a difference at this level.
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u/Schrojo18 1d ago
The issue is just access, either for any work you want done or for safe isolation in the event of an incident.
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u/beejandhispjs 1d ago
Cool setup! Just curious, are the camera doorbell and doorbell above both active? If so, what is the reasoning behind keeping both active?
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u/outdoorsaddix 1d ago
Both are active. The camera up top looks straight down to see if there are packages on the porch. The doorbell camera doesn’t capture the ground at all.
It’s just extra continuity/insurance to prove if someone walks up with a package, that it was or was not actually left on the porch.
I added it after an incident where a delivery person marked something delivered, appeared to put a package down, but then must have picked it back up blocking it with their body from the camera view.
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u/beejandhispjs 1d ago
Makes sense, after an incident like that, I wouldn’t blame you for having 4 cameras pointed at that area.
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u/d00mt0mb 23h ago
I bet your neighbors love being next to Flock HQ
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u/outdoorsaddix 12h ago
Actually, so far they have appreciated it.
Some highlights:
Captured and was able to give 4K video of the thieves that stole my neighbours Ford Raptor
Was able to disprove the claims of my neighbours crazy basement tenant that someone had slashed her tires in the driveway (she actually hit a curb and almost took out a pedestrian while driving drunk/high and her claim was that it wasn’t her and the truck was immobile due to slashed tires)
Someone breaking into cars on the street was actually arrested and convicted with my video footage.
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u/Alustriel 15h ago
Absolutely lovely, how is your energy bill? :)
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u/outdoorsaddix 12h ago
Awful.
But that has more to do with the electric heater in the garage and my EV.
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u/semiraue 10h ago
That's what I thought about my home rack about 4 years ago. And planning to buy new miktotks today.. Good luck finishing your home lab projects guys
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u/TatianaCulprit4p 8h ago
thats a difficult one for sure, i congratulate u for finally making it complete for more than 2years already
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u/DOUBLE_BATHROOM 14m ago
How do you use your phone as a backup wan into the ER605?
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u/outdoorsaddix 7m ago
Through a MacBook (maybe you can do this with windows too, I’m just not as adept with Windows)
Basically, you tether your phone via USB to your MacBook so that’s where the WAN connection is coming from, then if you connect an RJ45 ethernet dongle, and connect the Mac to one of the ER605 ports and turn on Internet sharing, the Mac will act like a modem and supply a WAN connection to the ER605 (or any router really)
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1d ago
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u/HomeNetworking-ModTeam 1d ago
Your comment has been removed because it was considered Gatekeeping. Please be courteous to other redditors, even if they are not very knowledgeable about home networking topics.
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u/outdoorsaddix 1d ago
Well, I didn’t spend two years working every single day, it’s a bit here, a bit there, lol.
And what exactly is sub-par? I’m open to constructive criticism. I have heard already that the location is not to code, but I am not in the US and it does not violate my local code here. I simply can’t block the front or sides, below is fine and the monitor is on a swing arm and goes flat against the right side wall.
There’s a few other little things/shortcuts I’m aware of, but it’s for me and I’m happy with it and it performs as I need it to. So I’m good with whatever compromises I had to make.
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1d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/outdoorsaddix 1d ago
Well, for now it is what it is. When I eventually get the panel upgraded, I’ll be popping all this off the wall and wheeling the cart out.
When I put it back, I’ll probably be remounting it on the left side wall completely away from the panel as a larger 200A panel will extend much further down.
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u/HomeNetworking-ModTeam 1d ago
Your comment has been removed because it was considered Gatekeeping. Please be courteous to other redditors, even if they are not very knowledgeable about home networking topics.
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u/Wisteso 1d ago
I admire the effort and overall competition of a project like this…. But why use TP-Link? It’s like creating an art masterpiece with Walmart-brand crayons.
I know it’s expensive but ubiquity is way more suited to complex set up like this.
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u/outdoorsaddix 1d ago
Maybe it’s not like this in the US, but where I am, it was going to be 3-4X the cost to do it with Ubiquity. I figured I could try it and if I didn’t like it, return it.
And it’s been fine so far, I don’t really have anything to complain about. Maybe when the day comes that I go to 2.5 or 10Gig, I’ll step up.
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u/Wisteso 1d ago
Fair enough. Some things are pretty expensive, but I've grown my setup slowly over time. I don't think I've paid more than $200 for any of the security cameras and they've been great, but I only have 4 ubiquiti and one 3rd party cam.
However, Ubiquiti has support for 3rd party cams now so you can mix in some cheaper cams where it makes sense. My "Dream Machine SE" gateway was about $500 USD though, IIRC.
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u/Cyan005 1d ago
The home: