Post by @EmilieEasie@fedinsfw.app

2026-10-15 18:37 UTC

Can you please tell me all about your DIY router? Now that I have time for hobbies again I wanna dive right in to building up a home lab. Right now I just have a Netgear router that reached end of life, and a NAS i’d like to make accessible remotely, and a DIY router seems like the correct next step for me. I’m very interested in ad-blocking network wide and someday I’d like to host my own little webpage, but for now I’m really just barely getting started. I’m information gathering, I don’t know what I don’t know and my networking skills are pretty weak anyway. But even if your needs and desires have nothing to do with mine, I also just like to hear people talk about their set ups. Please? 🌞

Replies (13)

@fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-10-16 00:29

I was using an N100 based mini PC and it did fine at 1gbit. But now that I have 3, and it’s realistically closer to 4 or 5 it doesn’t cut the mustard. Proper hardware based routers are also just so much more efficient. That N100 machine was constantly hot to the touch. My new UniFi router uses less power and does 10 gig easily.

Open ##5207325
@nbailey@lemmy.ca 2026-10-15 23:36

It’s currently a N100 mini-pc running Debian, but in the past it’s been all kinds of random hardware including a busted old laptop with an expresscard-PCIe riser for the second NIC. Anything can be a router if you know what you’re doing! nbailey.ca/post/router/

Open ##5209204
@Shimitar@downonthestreet.eu 2026-10-15 18:45

I bought a firewall appliance based on an Intel CPU, with 4x 2.5gbps Ethernet ports, 8gb ram. Installed opnSense on it and been super happy even since! A bit pricey the hardware, but it’s been totally rock solid for almost two years now. I have configured unbound with ad blocking on opnSense, and it has every single option I would ever want on it. Amazing stuff.

Open ##5209318
@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2026-10-15 23:41

I usually just use proper network devices. OpenWRT will generally run on anything with Mediatec or Qualcomm based assuming it has support

Open ##5210571
@otacon239@lemmy.world 2026-10-15 20:03

My setup consists of an x86 “network appliance”. They’re low-cost, low-power, sometime headless units that can run most any open-source software solution. Even with RAM as bad as it is, you can find these for less than $200 from multiple sources if you’re okay with 2.5Gbps. If you did need more than that, you’d have to build something custom likely, unless it’s a small-business class device. If you’re just getting into the network software side of things, I recommend experimenting off-Internet for a while with a few different operating systems. Find which one has a user-interface you enjoy and can wrap your head around since in a personal homelab, they almost all meet the requirements. My personal choice for software ended up being OPNSense. I run all of my other services that aren’t network related on separate hardware via a managed switch just to keep things isolated and the rest is up to you.

Open ##5210751
@deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 2026-10-15 19:11

OpnSense running on an ex-lease HP i3-something SFF desktop. Added several cheap half-height GigEth PCIe cards for the LAN bridge. It is way over spec for what OpnSense needs but it was cheap and extensible. UPS power supply. There’s a tangle of PoE injectors which makes me sad. PoE PCIe cards appear to be ludicrously expensive here for no apparent reason.

Open ##5213073
@pHr34kY@lemmy.world 2026-10-15 22:02

When I retire my desktop PC, the old parts become my router. If you have two network ports, it can do it. To warrant the power bill, it’s also a NAS, NVR, mail server, print server and web server. All my Wifi APs are various home routers flashed with OpenWRT.

Open ##5219145
@hexagonwin@lemmy.today 2026-10-15 23:17

i had a cheap made in china consumer router with mt7621 on it, porting openwrt was surprisingly easy and its been running well enough for the past 5 years. adguard home runs on it and handles dns adblocking

Open ##5219905
@jaschen306@sh.itjust.works 2026-10-16 08:17

I’m running pfsense with wireguard site to site connection between 2 locations. Vlan for my mqtt for my meshtastic. I did have an ad blocker on it but I found it wasn’t very good. It was blocking too many things. Switched to Adguard on my Proxmox instead.

Open ##5220760
@nymnympseudonym@piefed.social 2026-10-15 18:43

OpenWRT all the way. Skynet firewall PiHole Stable IP addresses and a private interface for family phones/laptops/pcs Guest network for nasty Roku TV/peleton EDIT: my favorite thing about Skynet is the new-ish ability to filter by country

Open ##5270128
@treadful@lemmy.zip 2026-10-15 18:45

Not sure how “DIY” you want to go. I’ve been liking OPNSense though. Running it on an air cooled Protectli box. Handles a symmetric 2Gbps connection just fine.

Open ##5270129
@avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 2026-10-15 19:01

OpenWrt on Raspberry Pi 4 with UE300 dongle for the WAN side. 7 years of trouble-free operation so far.

Open ##5270130
@Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 2026-10-15 19:08

I got a spiffy little fanless micro PC with five Ethernet ports, installed Ubuntu, and wrote my own iptables rules and installed pihole.

Open ##5270131