Building a smart home network

A solid WIFI and wired network is foundational for any smart home. I show you how I went about setting mine up in my new house!

[prince]

One of the few people I've found that believe in hardwiring over wifi connectivity! Thanx for this video, as it gives me some other ideas. 👏

[DggyBits]

you had my like and subscribe at " ... is a bit over-kill, and you'd be 100% correct it is over kill, but im a massive nerd that's always wanted to have his own server rack in his house"

[Shellyfi]

Definitely would like to see videos of configuring Unifi devices for IoT devices - Especially firewall rules for multiple VLAN's

[Nilsje]

Most important, what does your spouse think about all this? 😂 Just completely renovated my house and did the same as you. The look on my wife’s face when the server rack came in 😝. “Is this really necessary?!” YES it is!

[tf]

I'll give you a top tip... Do it the Portuguese way.. Don't run cat 6 cables through your walls.. Run pipes... I fully upgraded my parents house which was built in late 90's and was able to access every room through 20/30mm pipes that were left inside walls and floors.. I was shocked. How is this not a standard in England

[jackinjulius]

I’m in a similar position and also dreamt of having a server rack using mostly the same equipment you talked about in the first 2023 video. I would love a video to see how you setup your trusted / untrusted network in a unifi environment! Keep up the good work 🎉

[matt_-_-_]

Recently stumbled across your channel as I'm buying my first house and planning my dream smart home and network solution. I'm planning on getting a very similar setup to you using unifi equipment and I would love some detailed videos on how you've configured your VLANs as I'm basically a total beginner with all this networking.

Keep up the content and I can't wait to watch your backlog of videos whilst researching!

[shred]

Server rack is a bit OTT IMO but 16 yrs ago when we built our house we had it cabled throughout with Ethernet with a wall box in a storeroom where in internet enters the house. A simple network switch box handles the internet distribution to all points and this is where we have our NAS, UPS etc.

[absentfromtheworld]

Hope that speed test wasn't your static IP address... Great video!

[BerkeleyTowers]

Old nerd here! 😃We're running along the same lines. I love old high end (by domestic standards) stuff, so my rack has an old Brocade 48 port PoE switch with 4 x10g ports as well. A 1U PowerEdge R210 II running pfSense. All as chip as chips on ebay.
The Wifi running on a TP Omada with 4 AP's, 2 inside and 2 outdoor. I can't say too many nice things about this system, brilliant performance and excellent value.
Two Unraid servers mounted in the rack. One dual Xeon based, running VM's (one is HA) and multiple dockers. The other Unraid server is a dedicated NAS. Again, all old Enterprise gear bought cheaply, the only new bits being the hard drives themselves. PoE cameras are mainly Dahua 4MP based on their 1/1.8" sensor (always prioritise sensor size over resolution). All the 10g ports are fibre connections. Again, the interface cards are remarkably cheap and the the setup is quite straightforward.
I'm considering getting another R210 box to run a dedicated HA on bare metal rather than as a VM, but the VM is running so well, I'm not sure what I'll gain from that.
Anyway, carry on Geeking and keep up the good work!

[JamesTenniswood]

Love the video, I have a similar system. Surprised you didn't use keystone jack's for the patch panel (much easier to manage and update) and put the switch next to the patch panel to reduce the cables covering the udm.

[tboss]

Seeing your router and firewalls settings is a must make video

[jm]

This is the first video I watch of you and I loved it as someone who is in IT since about a year and a half and on my way to get my CCNA, I want to also get some hands on experience as I learn way better to understand everything by doing it myself.

P.S. I am currently a server support engineer who focuses on troubleshooting server hardware and Operating Systems, although, I do get occasionally networking issues as well.

[northeastoutrider]

I replaced my entire home network over the covid lockdown with Ubiquity Inifi and it has been bulletproof ever since. I added a series of the security cameras later and those have worked perfectly as well.

[cateyenebula]

Love your easy paced videos. Planning to move come Augustus, your journey is a nice path for me the follow preparing for my own smart home!

[SoullessAndSynthetic]

When I bought a new home 21 years ago, as it was an new build I go the electrician to put in CAT5E everywhere. 48 sockets throughout the house and garage…..total cost…£285 (I supplied all the cables etc). If you have the option, it really is worth the meagre cost. I have run phone, video and audio over the same cabling. Oh and I use ubiquiti with a dream machine pro as well….nerds of the world unite!

[roccocadwallender]

Just the video i was looking for ! Keep up the great work

[TyDaSpace]

Good Video man! I came here to get inspiration on how to structure my own video and how you created your series which I have been following as well. I'm in Canada so there will be differences in product availability and certain building structure - Brick vs Drywall LOOL. I also just built a new house and started my smart home all over again - this time I plan to film the process. I ran 48 CAT6 plenum-rated ethernet cables through my new build. My builder was nice enough to let me run my cabling myself during the build. It so hard trying to record and setup - I find that I get so carried away in the install that I forget to record properly. I'll be installing patch panels, switches routers, UPS, ATS, .. ahhaha.. fully geeking out.

Keep your videos coming! LOVE them.

[PrankstarDK]

I would LOVE to see how you setup your networks and wifi in Unifi!

[thisiswilks]

Solid video. Struggled to find decent content related to the UK market. Keep it up please 😊