Home Network
211 episodes · Page 5 of 9
#4085: The Clinton Email Server: A Technical Autopsy
What was actually in that Chappaqua basement? A technical breakdown of the most infamous self-hosted email server in history.
#4066: Wi-Fi 7 in a Rental: The Bridge Solution
Realistic home networking for renters: Wi-Fi 7 APs, dedicated bridges, and what you can actually expect to pay.
#4062: How to Keep a Baby's Room Comfortable With a Dumb AC
Smart sensors + dumb AC + PID control = better than a Nest for keeping your infant comfortable at night.
#4061: Wi-Fi Through Concrete Bunkers
Can one access point serve a reinforced concrete apartment with a bomb shelter? Yes, with the right config.
#4033: Why Your Fiber Upload Is Stuck at 250 Mbps
Your fiber plan promises 5 Gbps down but only 250 Mbps up. The bottleneck isn't the glass — it's the pricing sheet.
#4031: The Truth About Fiber Rollout Metrics
How “homes passed” hides a 24-point gap between political boasts and real availability.
#3999: The VLAN Blind Spot: Why Your IoT Devices Still Talk to Each Other
VLANs isolate IoT from your main network, but devices inside can still attack each other. Client isolation is the missing piece.
#3983: How to Pick the Right Fish Tape for Ethernet
Nylon vs. steel, flat vs. round, and how to avoid killing your Cat6A signal integrity.
#3966: Building Custom Furniture That Hides a 6U Server Rack
How to embed a proper 6U rack into living room furniture — rails, spacing, toddler-proofing, and cooling.
#3904: Manual NAT vs Double NAT: The Measurable Reality
Tracing OPNsense packet paths and quantifying double NAT's real latency cost.
#3902: Manual Network Config Demystified
Why your Linux box asks for gateway, subnet mask, and IP separately — and what each actually does.
#3884: Why Your Wi-Fi 7 Mesh Might Make Things Worse
Most people either under-provision or over-provision their home networks. Wi-Fi 7 makes both mistakes more expensive.
#3883: Inside OPNsense Tunables: Kernel Variables Explained
What OPNsense tunables actually do, how they work under the hood, and when to touch them.
#3882: Fiber vs Ethernet from Your ONT
What to run from your ONT — Ethernet, fiber, or both? A practical breakdown of the two topologies.
#3870: Laser Engravers for Home Labs: Are They Worth It?
Desktop laser engravers now cost less than a 3D printer. But can they actually label your home network gear?
#3825: Low Voltage, High Stakes: Electricians vs Linemen
Why 120V is "low voltage" and what separates electricians from linemen at the meter.
#3817: Hide Your Desktop in a Closet: The Gear You Need
USB4, Thunderbolt 5, and active cables now let you stash your PC in another room. Here's how.
#3815: Should You Rack-Mount Your Desktop PC?
Tower form factor fighting you? We explore when and how to rack-mount a desktop for better serviceability and cooling.
#3808: Tracing a Packet: 3 Home Switches vs the Internet Backbone
Three home switches add 36 microseconds. Your cable modem adds 5-15 milliseconds. Let's follow a packet from phone to Google News.
#3804: Stateful Firewalls vs. Modern Threats
Is a basic firewall still enough in 2026? We break down what each security layer actually catches—and misses.
#3802: What's Really in That Private Network Cable?
Virtual cables, MPLS circuits, and dark fiber — how cloud providers connect data centers behind the scenes.
#3795: The Fifteen-Cent Screw That Stops Server Builds
A seized M.2 screw, a missing heat sink, and why inventory blind spots cost more than any technical skill.
#3792: Cloud Brain, Local Fingers: Decoupled Home Assistant
Can Home Assistant run in the cloud while Zigbee stays local? We explore the decoupled control plane architecture.
#3786: When Your DNS Dies: Home Network Failure Cascade
One dead server, ZFS corruption, and a DNS collapse that takes down everything—including your ability to fix it.