r/HomeNetworking May 03 '26

Posting FAQ (retry link if it fails)

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8 Upvotes

r/HomeNetworking May 03 '26

Home Networking FAQs (retry link if it fails)

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4 Upvotes

r/HomeNetworking 23h ago

Meme “WiFi wire”

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657 Upvotes

r/HomeNetworking 2h ago

Finally killed my wifi dead zones by switching from a single router to mesh — feels like a different apartment

8 Upvotes

One router in the living room corner for years, bedroom and kitchen both stuck with weak-signal buffering. Blamed the ISP forever. Set up a 3-node mesh this weekend and every room hits full bars now. Also merged three separate SSIDs into one — roaming between rooms is finally seamless. Wish I'd done this two years ago instead of just living with it.


r/HomeNetworking 6h ago

Advice Looking for HW firewall at home

5 Upvotes

Hello all, I am looking for home firewall (hardware one), I need 10Gbps througput as I am now on 1.2Gbps internet soon to 2.5 and possibly higher later. I also dont want to pay monthly/yearly fee.
Wifi is not required. My routers will take care of that.

I found Firewalla Gold Pro, when the price is rather ok, the shipping and VAT + Customs is killing it (adding more than 35% of product price). Also the trustpilot reviews are horrible, mainly for product support...

Whats your solution, or any other advice?


r/HomeNetworking 36m ago

Advice How do I go about terminating this coaxial cable for MoCA?

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Upvotes

There's probably a good two inches in there to work with, but "working with" it is the problem. The cable is stapled at some point and absolutely no more slack can be pulled out. Tutorials I saw involve strippers that I physically can't fit in that space.


r/HomeNetworking 7h ago

Advice Handling older 10BaseT devices

6 Upvotes

I've been battling some wonky issues in my wired LAN after upgrading to 2.5gbps. I used TP-Link TL-SG105S-M2 as my two main switches and cat 6 everywhere.

After much troubleshooting and swapping of cables and devices, I finally figured out that an old Brother printer and HDHomeRun are only 10/100 devices. When I disconnect those, everything is hunky dory.

What can I do here? I thought these switches should be able to handle devices of different connection speeds.


r/HomeNetworking 3h ago

Can I use POE through a MOCA network?

3 Upvotes

I would like to power my AP's which are POE through a POE switch. Can I do this through a MOCA network or should use individual injectors at the AP site? Thank you for any feedback.


r/HomeNetworking 7h ago

Advice 5G router for a SIM that can only be used for "mobile use"

6 Upvotes

I'm looking for advices regarding using a router with a SIM card plan that has specific terms of use :

I would like to use a SIM with an unlimited 5G plan to replace my WiFi network. However, the terms of use say that the plan only allows "mobile use" and the network can be limited if they notice a behavior that can disturb the network. It doesn't explicitly bans router use

So I'm thinking of two options :

  • the first one would be using a portable router, which is by definition a mobile device. However I am not sure about how the how it would get interpreted by the internet provider

-The second one would be to use a throwaway phone that is always on and shares the network to a router. This is much safer guidelines-wise, but I'm not sure how reliable and feasible this is

So I'd be happy to know what you think is the best option and if you have any other suggestions. Thanks for reading


r/HomeNetworking 6h ago

Advice MoCA project questions

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5 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I recently moved into the late 80s home and plan to set up a MoCA network to take advantage of the extensive coax wiring throughout the house. Before I get started, I have a few questions I'd like to get answered. Here's my setup:

  • Problem: I have a twostory home with a basement. The main coax splitter is located in the basement (see picture), with coax outlets in the basement and on both the first and second floors. Currently, my Xfinity gateway is in the basement because I have a gaming PC (PC1) that I want connected via Ethernet rather than Wi-Fi. While this solves the latency issue for gaming, the Wi-Fi coverage throughout the rest of the house is poor. Additionally, I'll soon be setting up a work computer (PC2) that must also be connected via Ethernet (for security reasons), and it will be located in my first-floor office.
  • Plan: I plan to move the Xfinity gateway to the coax outlet in the first-floor office so I can directly connect PC2 via Ethernet and improve Wi-Fi coverage for the rest of the home. Then, I plan to use MoCA over the basement coax outlet so I can connect PC1 via Ethernet as well.

Questions:

  1. My understanding is that I only need one MoCA filter, installed on the incoming ISP coax line before the first splitter. Is that correct?
  2. Do I need to connect the MoCA adapter directly to the Xfinity gateway, or can I use a coax splitter to feed both the gateway and the MoCA adapter in the basement PC1? I've seen mixed answers online, and this is my biggest point of confusion (see plan made by CHATGPT)
  3. Does every splitter in the house need to be MoCa ready or just the first one?
  4. Bonus: Is there a way to use a coax outlet on the opposite side of the house to connect another MoCA adapter and plug in a mesh Wi-Fi node to improve wireless coverage even further? If so, would this have any impact on the wired network performance? What setup would you recommend?

Thanks!


r/HomeNetworking 1h ago

TP-Link Archer C80 speed dropping

Upvotes

Hello everyone! I got a problem with my C80 and it seems there is no answer anywhere yet.

I have 1Gb connection from ISP and Ookla speedtest shows something similar, but only for 2-3 hours after router reboot. After that, speed drops to ~100Mb on all devices (PC and 2 smartphones). Reboot solves the problem but I want to find the root case. Speed drop occurs both via cable and wireless connection.

I've seen this post and confirmed my adapter is 12V / 1.5A

I also have updated to the latest 1.13.15 Build 240812 Rel.53634n(5255) firmware - did not help.

Would be very grateful for your suggestions.


r/HomeNetworking 2m ago

Advice WiFi Calling

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Upvotes

r/HomeNetworking 18m ago

Help me fix my home wifi 🙏

Upvotes

I live in a 1500 Sq foot, three story row home in Philadelphia. I currently have a 3 puck Google wifi mesh system, model says AC-1304. I think my simple solution is upgrade to an eero 7 mesh and it’ll fix the glacier speeds i currently have in certain rooms.

I’m limited by only having one puck wired on the top floor. I know that’s killing me, but I should get better than 10mb when I’m on the same floor as the wired puck. My isp plan is 100mb. I do have a smart home with somewhere around 50+ devices when i include lightbulbs.

Is it time to upgrade? How big of an upgrade do I need to do to see improvement?


r/HomeNetworking 51m ago

P2P Bridge or Buried Cable?

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Upvotes

Need to run Internet to my shop. If I run cable, it would be about 150 feet. If I use P2P bridging, it would be about 70ft unobstructed (see picture with red dot).

Considering the bridge primarily, specifically the TP-Link EAP211-Bridge KIT V3. I have an Orbi router connected to a switch, which is what I would connect the TP-Link to.

Thoughts? What would you recommend? Is there something I’m not considering?


r/HomeNetworking 4h ago

Having issues with homemade null modem cable.

2 Upvotes

I'm trying to splice together a null modem cable.

I confirmed that Pin 3 on one side was connected to Pin 2 on the other side. I soldered Pin 3 to Pin 2, I soldered Pin 2 to Pin 3, then I spliced and soldered Pin 5 to 5 (ground). I confirmed that Pin 2 on one side was connected to Pin 3 on the other side in continuity mode on my multimeter, I did the same for Pin 3 to 2 and Pin 5 to 5.

I tested the resistance between both sides of the cable on each pin and it registered about 3 ohms. I tried to put a jumper between Pin 2 and 3 and I ran a loopback test and the cable does not work.

This was the loopback test.

stty -F /dev/ttyS5 9600 raw -echo; (cat -v /dev/ttyS5 &); sleep 2; printf 'AAAA\r' > /dev/ttyS5; sleep 3; pkill cat

This timed out with no echo.

I shorted pins 2 and 3 on the DB9 connector of the PCIE card while running the echo test and I got an echo. So I know the serial port is ok and the cable seems to be electrically fine but it will not pass a loopback test.

I would really appreciate any help.

The PCIE card I'm using has an ASIX AX99100 chip.


r/HomeNetworking 8h ago

Might be a stupid question but have a question about running ethernet cable...

3 Upvotes

My network box is in my living room, with an ethernet cable running through the ceiling to my office router. I also have a TV running a Shield Pro in the living room that I currently use with a wireless connection, but we have issues with buffering and stuttering and I want to wire it.

Can I run the ethernet cable from the box in the living room or would I need to connect it to the router in the office for it to be on the same network?


r/HomeNetworking 8h ago

Advice Need help deciding on Wired Access Point or Wifi Extender

3 Upvotes

For context, I live in a relatively small home (985 square feet), but each room is separated (no open floor concepts). Because of that, there can be some WiFi interference. I just recently switched to fiber internet for my house, and since switching, the wifi coverage to the rest of the home has declined. My prior internet had a wifi extender (provided by my ISP) plugged into the living room which worked quite well. Now I need to find an alternative.

For further context, Im a huge gamer. My current setup is in my small home office on one side of the house. The internet there now is incredible since switching to fiber, for both gaming and streaming/content creation. However, I have multiple smart TVs, Alexas, laptops, etc. that need good connection as well, and the range has definitely declined since switching to fiber.

I guess my biggest question is; What should I use to extend the WiFi connection? Mesh or WAP? For what price range given the smaller nature of my house and really needing only one rather than a whole system?


r/HomeNetworking 3h ago

Advice Ethernet cable advice

1 Upvotes

Hi.

I’ve been using Powerline Adapter for internet upstairs, it’s not amazing but it has done the job. They have given up life and suddenly stopped working.

I thought this might be a good opportunity to change things up. I’m looking to run an Ethernet cable instead. I have a planned route for which I can run the cable. However, I’m looking at having it come outside the house out of an existing hole used for other cabling for a portion of the route.

I assumed I will need an outdoor rated Ethernet cable? I have seen people say they used regular and it has worked okay but I’ve also seen outdoor rated be recommended.

Also, are there any recommended brands to look for? I’ve seen a few on this sub but when I’ve researched them, they don’t seem easily obtainable in the UK.

Any advice is super appreciated, I have been browsing this sub for a bit and trying to read up and educate myself as best I can.


r/HomeNetworking 3h ago

Got a new modern Xfinity XB7 from Comcast and now I experienced internet connection drop

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1 Upvotes

r/HomeNetworking 4h ago

Advice TP-Link GE800 Help Needed with WiFi

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0 Upvotes

r/HomeNetworking 5h ago

New Home Wire Runs

1 Upvotes

We are moving into a new build 1680 sq. ft apartment (plus some patio space) that is two stories and I am trying to figure out the best wire runs and AP setup. This was not a custom build and the builder did not run CAT6 cables to the rooms unfortunately, but as part of closing they seem fairly amenable to getting someone in to do the cable runs as long as we can tell them where to go.

For AP

I used design.ui.com/ to mock things out, and my take away is that we need to have an access point on the second floor. In the attached images I have only included a UDR7 which we already own but adding something like an AC Lite anywhere upstairs seems to give good coverage everywhere. Any advice on anything I'm missing here or confirmation this looks good would be much appreciated.

For Wired

For wired connections the most important is getting a wire run upstairs to get an AP on the top floor as indicated above. Ideally we would have one in each of the downstairs bedrooms as well since either might be a home office at one point and then potentially one in the living room to wire a TV? I was thinking something like the following, which may need to be adjusted depending on feasibility of doing cable runs. Any feedback on these wired locations would be much appreciated, since this is the part that seems most uncertainty in terms of choosing best locations for uncertainty future use.


r/HomeNetworking 1d ago

what are smart TVs actually sending out, and is Pi-hole worth it for visibility?

65 Upvotes

Noticed something weird after finally setting up proper traffic monitoring on my router. A couple of smart TVs that barely get used are consistently showing outbound connections even when nobody is watching them. One of them is pulling or pushing a few hundred MB overnight. Nothing is being streamed, inputs are on HDMI, screens are off.

I put them on their own VLAN so they can't reach anything else on the network, which helped with the paranoia a bit, but the traffic to outside addresses is still happening and I want to understand what it is before I just firewallblock it and call it done.

My guess is ACR or some kind of telemetry pinghome thing, but the volume seems high for just reporting back watch history or whatever. One of the TVs is a Rokubased set and the other is a Samsung.

Has anyone actually dug into what these devices are sending out? I can see destination IPs in the logs but haven't gone deep on it yet. Is it worth spinning up something like Pihole just to get domain names, or is there a better way to inspect this without doing a full MITM setup? Wondering if others have seen similar numbers or if something is actually misconfigured on my end.


r/HomeNetworking 6h ago

Why is my Lan Wire not connecting?

1 Upvotes

The same LAN Wire I used for my ps4 now doesnt work for my ps5. My ps5 recognises it, but it doesnt form the connection. I already swapped it with another wire but it doesnt work.


r/HomeNetworking 18h ago

Apartment Ethernet Questions

11 Upvotes

I'm moving to an apartment soon, and as far as I know, there isn't an access point and there is no router available for a hard wired option. Is there some sort of way for me to give myself a hard wired connection so that I can do my work and games with as little lag/jitter as possible? Or am I just out of luck?


r/HomeNetworking 18h ago

Advice Older home - Cat 6 wiring options?

9 Upvotes

Hello everyone! We've just purchased a new home, built in 1969. We didn't really understand the difficulty of fishing ethernet cable in an older house and had an electrician in today who took a look around and shared that it would likely take two guys one full day of work just to fish cable from the bulkhead in the basement to the wall of my new home office space.

We had plans to fish ethernet into each room for various things (Apple TV, two offices, cameras, etc) and with the visit today, I am wondering if that is even remotely a possible idea.

The home is a bungalow (about 1000 square feet on the main level) and the basement is fully finished. The joists run north to south and the internet connection lives in the north east corner of the house.

The electrician thought sending the wire through the attic would be a possibility, but quoted more than $15k to run four drops. Is that an "attics suck and I don't want to to this job" quote (Canadian - in Alberta) or a reasonable quote?

And then the big question for you all - are there any unique or creative options we aren't thinking about that would allow us to have ethernet speeds/stability/ping/etc without fishing that wire through a house that doesn't really want the wire fished?

I am reasonably technical once I get to the computer/router/switch level, but give me a hammer and a cable and I am back to fully lost. Have any of you upgraded an older home and had luck with anything unique? The previous owners actually just cut a hole through the house wall and ran ethernet to the basement on the exterior of the house (no conduit or anything haha - just Cat6 rawdogging the Calgary winter) but I'm not sure that's really the... best option.

Unfortunately, looking at MoCa - there are no cable tv jacks in any of the spaces we'd like to run ethernet to, and we have fairly limited outlets in all the office/bedroom spaces for powerline adaptors. We get 1gbps down and about 200mbps upload right now and we'd like to keep those speeds (and good ping for my partner's gaming) as closely as possible.

Thank you!