What Technologies Are You Using In Your Home Network?

[drrich2]

The purpose of this poll is to see what % penetrance different network-related gear has in the home networks of participating MacRumors users. I’m asking you to vote for all gear you use (not just sitting in a drawer), and the little ethernet cable likely connecting your modem and router does not count as ‘using ethernet.’ Please vote for all tech. you currently use. This list will be extensive but limited (e.g.: I didn’t include low bandwidth wireless-operated thermostats or smart plugs, but high bandwidth devices like smart t.v.s count). Feel free to add post insights that might help someone newer to networking make more informed decisions.

Note: Just aiming for some fun and a little community insight. I've been researching home network to develop an overview; you know the old saying 'don't miss the forest for the trees?' In the process I've found patches of my own ignorance (that sounds bad; let's call them 'knowledge holes') here and there and topics I wanted to have a basic awareness of (e.g.: WPA3 Personal Transition Mode, Powerline vs. MoCA Adapters, mesh vs. access points, SFP ports (and varied + versions for power delivery), using fiber in place of ethernet, practical considerations aside from cost in different ethernet cable categories, the current state of MLO, rack mounting). That led to curiosity about what the community uses in their own homes.

Note: I'm limited to 20 options; will have to use a 2nd poll to include several more. Here's the link to Part 2.

Please let us know what you especially like about your home network gear and what you wish you'd known earlier or done differently.

 

[splifingate]

So this guy buys a new house (130㎡), and has complete control over everything . . . except his wallet.

ISP is 1G FTTH from a major US Provider

fs.com is a fantastic resource, but hooo-boy one can easily go overboard.

I am now the proud owner of a large 190+m remaining out of a 300m spool of S/FTP Cat 6a cabling . . . all that I didn't need after wiring my little ranch. Bright side of that purchase is that prices have increased ~230% Downside is that I sincerely overestimated the 'what' and 'how much'.

I learned how to terminate cable, and gained a much better understanding of what "bend radius" means. I also now know that Cat6a is a real pain to work-with.

fiber -> NID -> router -> un-managed switch

From there, I have three managed switches serving Unifi POE, 10G interconnect, and IoT. Redundant piHole instances manage DNS, and ProxMox on a mini server provides a wealth of useful (albeit unnecessary) services.

Two Unifi NanoHD's easily serve WIFI for the whole ~1,000㎡ property.

One major complication I have since had to tackle is that my Honeywell alarm pad went into a constant re-boot cycle with WPA-3 activated: I had to hard-wire it.

Now that I have three 10G devices, the 6a is finally making sense; "all-fiber" is a cool idea, but there's currently no need to back this simple infrastructure with fiber interconnect.

While a bespoke setup is fantastic, I have come to realize that the management of such can be overwhelming at times (especially with all the potential compromises being made-public these days).

As of yet, I have not opened my intranet for outside access, but tailscale is somewhere in "Pending" 🙂