Good ideas deserve great connectivity. That’s why we use CAT6a and enterprise-grade hardware in the home lab. Each room in the lab has two drops and connects to the 10 GbE switch. This sort of upgrade can allow network-based file transfers to reach speeds approaching that of an internal PCIe NVMe (v3), similar to the storage in your typical laptop, assuming it was built before before 2022.
The network rack serves as the brain center for the home lab. It is optimized for speed, security, resilience, and power efficiency.
We are big believers in 3M Velcro Command Strips to increase spatial efficiency and allow for rapid reconfiguration when larger devices need to be swapped out or relocated.
10 GbE equipment can run on the warmer side, so we monitor thermals inside the rack to make sure everything remains fully functional.
PoE is another important component of the network. This elegant power delivery standard allows a run to deliver both power and data on the same cable.
Aesthetically, a single cable is less visually offensive than two, especially when the nearest power outlet is a few feet away.
Functionally, the PoE switch delivers power from the UPS battery in the rack, meaning that a power outage does not disrupt WiFi connections.
There are two WiFi6 APs, one in each corner of the home. A dedicated controller in the rack coordinates handoff to ensure devices only connect to the AP with the stronger signal using Fast Roaming. If a device travels to the opposite side of the home, the controller automatically handles the transition from one AP to the other.
Firmware in each AP can be updated independently. During a firmware update, one AP goes offline and the controller gracefully reallocates the connected devices to the active AP prevent WiFi outage.
A secondary IoT network (SSID) keeps devices isolated from the main network and each other. This second network is also throttled to keep more bandwidth available to the primary network. This is an essential security strategy for the connected home. Are you using good security practices on your network?
In the event of a power outage, the server shuts itself down after 5 minutes and the network can continue uninterrupted for hours. Enterprise-grade networks can be more difficult to configure, but the productivity and security benefits are potentially profound. When is the last time you upgraded your network?
Is your home office prepared for the next Texas snow’pocalypse?
We can help.