Looking for suggestion for new home network.

Hi Guys,

I'm moving to my new home and I'm looking for your suggestions on the home network. I have planned following so far.

1. A 47U Server rack for my existing servers and network gears in a dedicated network room.
2. 4 Cat6 drops per each room and 6 Cat6 drops for the entertainment room.
3. I do have a Juniper srx340 laying around so this will be my core router.
4. New 48 Port Gigabit Switch for normal switching
5. New 8/16 Port Gigabit PoE+ / PoE++ for Wifi access points and Security cameras
6. 2 Ubiquiti / Cambium access points per floor.

I also would like to set up a utility box outside the home for service providers to terminate their fibers, coaxial, LTE, satellite etc. So I will be running 24 fiber cable from this box to my network room. Should I run fiber drops to each room along with Cat6 for future-proofing?

Please do comment your suggestions for any possible improvements. (Structured cabling, Smart Home Etc)

Does any of you run LTE backup? If yes what kinda setup you have?

Considering all this money you are pouring in, you should consider a 10Gbit NIC for servers and a 10Gbit switch as core+distribution switch.

For servers you might want to use multiple ethernet cables to prevent downtime.

Use the 48Port Gbit as Access Switches for regular devices.

Fiber isn't coming to laptops or computers anytime soon, you can use 10Gbit copper Ethernet with Cat6 should work fine for 40meters.

You should also consider a 16/24 port managed switch for VLANs because your network is kinda big compared to most homes.

If you have used Juniper before then sure go for that. I personally prefer RouterOS or PFSense/OPNSense though especially for home networks.

@JB701
Thanks for your suggestions

My main server already has a 10Gbit NIC. So the plan was to connect it to 10G SFP+ uplink port of the switch with a DAC Cable. But getting a CRS305-1G-4S+IN make sense if I want to upgrade other servers and workstation.

I'm not running anything critical on this network. So I'm not worried about network/ power redundancy that much.

I was thinking about getting Ubiquiti switch for access, it has two SFP+ ports. Do you have any other switch in mind?

My current Cable TV provider is on fiber and they run fiber up to the set-top box. I also think running fiber drops will be beneficial for use cases like remote media systems. Just rack the media and audio system in the network room and just bring HDMI over fiber.

I'm running on pfsense now. Thing is that I just got a new Juniper srx340. Servers, access points and network racks are with me already. I will have to burn money only for switches, security cameras and structured cabling.

Does any of you run LTE backup? If yes what kinda setup you have?

If you are looking for unmanaged then TP-Link will do fine:

Mikrotik makes affordable managed switches

@JB701

I need a managed switch with SPF+ uplink ports. I think my best choice is Ubiquiti EdgeSwitch 48.

I think @varkey runs a LTE backup with Dual WAN config

@Thanos Hello from fellow Juniper SRX user (SRX320 here). I was using absolutely crap Ubiquiti USG-3P before this
For the LTE backup you may consider using Juniper SRX-MP-LTE-AA (LTE Mini-Physical Interface Module - TechLibrary - Juniper Networks). One of my colleagues is using this with Airtel and pretty happy with that

Along with that I am running Juniper EX2300C-12P as my access switch. No requirement for 10G access for me as I don't run any server rack.

I have used Ubiquiti Edgeswitch ( US-16-150W) before at a different place, they are really good managed POE switches, probably the only other nice equipment from Ubiquiti other than their APs. Only downside is that you need a dedicated controller for that but I guess since you have few servers, its not difficult to carve out a small size VM to do that.
For APs, I have two Ubiquiti APs (AP-Lite and AP-AC-LR) and a Juniper Mist AP43 (with Wifi6). You need to purchase subscription from https://manage.mist.com

All the Juniper stuff has come from my employer as part of upgrade of home network due to extension of WFH until middle of next year

Hi @varkey , What kinda setup you have?

@panks21 . Yeah, But It's unfair to compare Ubiquiti and Mikrotik to Juniper. I didn't find anyone using Juniper LTE modules online. So I was thinking to get separate hardware for LTE from AliExpress. Let me look into this.

How is Juniper Mist AP43 working out for you? Are you getting seamless roaming between the APs? I'm currently using Cambium cnPilot e410. But I'm leaning toward Ubiquiti AP due to the price.

I agree Juniper can’t be compared with them.
I have only single AP43 for now. No roaming tests can be performed at home. But we do use them at office (migrated from Aruba) and the experience have been wonderful.
I have AP41 at office which I plan to bring home once the office reopens. The mist APs are absolutely marvellous with lots of information on the dashboard and packet auto captures in the cloud in case of troubles. They support BLE as well which is now required by many enterprises. The EX switch is also managed by the cloud now.
I dont know your exact use case and budget, hence can’t compare the ubiquiti with Juniper for you. But I suggest to take a look and if planning to use for long term, do calculate some TCO.
I have used Ubiquiti and still have two lying around. For home use, they are pretty good

Thanos said:

Does any of you run LTE backup? If yes what kinda setup you have?

Click to expand...

I use a outdoor rated LTE device (Yeacomm P-11) for LTE backup. Works well, stable, have always worked when I needed it.

However if I was buying one right now, would probably get a Mikrotik LTE6 device (SXT LTE6 maybe). They have many devices depending on your need, even a LTE12 device. Availability in India might be an issue though. You could check eurodk.com, they ship to India, but with customs etc might be bit expensive.

@panks21
Thanks for your input. I have decided to go with a mix of Ubiquiti and Cambium gears.

@varkey
I didn't know Mikrotik had an LTE produce lineup. I just saw its review on Crosstalk Solution's youtube channel. I noticed your GPON STP thread, Were you able to make any progress on that?

Guys need a lil advice.. have you used electrical conceal conduits for you ethernet cables(& coaxial) or a dedicated conceal for network wiring?

@Deb_1 You are not supposed to run low voltage and high voltage in the same conduit. I use dedicated PVC conduits for running ethernet cables in my house.

@Thanos thanks..