Definitely would like to see videos of configuring Unifi devices for IoT devices - Especially firewall rules for multiple VLAN's

you had my like and subscribe at " ... is a bit over-kill, and you'd be 100% correct it is over kill, but im a massive nerd that's always wanted to have his own server rack in his house"

Most important, what does your spouse think about all this? 😂 Just completely renovated my house and did the same as you. The look on my wife’s face when the server rack came in 😝. “Is this really necessary?!” YES it is!

I’m in a similar position and also dreamt of having a server rack using mostly the same equipment you talked about in the first 2023 video. I would love a video to see how you setup your trusted / untrusted network in a unifi environment! Keep up the good work 🎉

Love your easy paced videos. Planning to move come Augustus, your journey is a nice path for me the follow preparing for my own smart home!

Recently stumbled across your channel as I'm buying my first house and planning my dream smart home and network solution. I'm planning on getting a very similar setup to you using unifi equipment and I would love some detailed videos on how you've configured your VLANs as I'm basically a total beginner with all this networking. Keep up the content and I can't wait to watch your backlog of videos whilst researching!

One of the few people I've found that believe in hardwiring over wifi connectivity! Thanx for this video, as it gives me some other ideas. 👏

Seeing your router and firewalls settings is a must make video

This is the first video I watch of you and I loved it as someone who is in IT since about a year and a half and on my way to get my CCNA, I want to also get some hands on experience as I learn way better to understand everything by doing it myself. P.S. I am currently a server support engineer who focuses on troubleshooting server hardware and Operating Systems, although, I do get occasionally networking issues as well.

Definitely would love to see how this is set up in your Unifi Network equipment 😊👍🏽

Just the video i was looking for ! Keep up the great work

Server rack is a bit OTT IMO but 16 yrs ago when we built our house we had it cabled throughout with Ethernet with a wall box in a storeroom where in internet enters the house. A simple network switch box handles the internet distribution to all points and this is where we have our NAS, UPS etc.

Thanks you for your informative video

Hope that speed test wasn't your static IP address... Great video!

I would LOVE to see how you setup your networks and wifi in Unifi!

Exactly what I needed to know

Solid advice

Great video, would love a video on how you have configured your trusted and untrusted zones. In which zone is Home Assitant installed? Do you use Nabu Casa cloud as I do?

Love the video, I have a similar system. Surprised you didn't use keystone jack's for the patch panel (much easier to manage and update) and put the switch next to the patch panel to reduce the cables covering the udm.

Definitely would like to see videos of configuring Unifi devices for IoT devices - Especially firewall rules for multiple VLAN's for smart home

Absolutely :D, i would like to see the network configuration for iot in unify cause less people talking about it and i think that information is important. And also because your excellent explains, that'll be great video!

Solid video. Struggled to find decent content related to the UK market. Keep it up please 😊

I replaced my entire home network over the covid lockdown with Ubiquity Inifi and it has been bulletproof ever since. I added a series of the security cameras later and those have worked perfectly as well.

Good Video man! I came here to get inspiration on how to structure my own video and how you created your series which I have been following as well. I'm in Canada so there will be differences in product availability and certain building structure - Brick vs Drywall LOOL. I also just built a new house and started my smart home all over again - this time I plan to film the process. I ran 48 CAT6 plenum-rated ethernet cables through my new build. My builder was nice enough to let me run my cabling myself during the build. It so hard trying to record and setup - I find that I get so carried away in the install that I forget to record properly. I'll be installing patch panels, switches routers, UPS, ATS,.. ahhaha.. fully geeking out. Keep your videos coming! LOVE them.

When I bought a new home 21 years ago, as it was an new build I go the electrician to put in CAT5E everywhere. 48 sockets throughout the house and garage…..total cost…£285 (I supplied all the cables etc). If you have the option, it really is worth the meagre cost. I have run phone, video and audio over the same cabling. Oh and I use ubiquiti with a dream machine pro as well….nerds of the world unite!

Old nerd here! 😃We're running along the same lines. I love old high end (by domestic standards) stuff, so my rack has an old Brocade 48 port PoE switch with 4 x10g ports as well. A 1U PowerEdge R210 II running pfSense. All as chip as chips on ebay. The Wifi running on a TP Omada with 4 AP's, 2 inside and 2 outdoor. I can't say too many nice things about this system, brilliant performance and excellent value. Two Unraid servers mounted in the rack. One dual Xeon based, running VM's (one is HA) and multiple dockers. The other Unraid server is a dedicated NAS. Again, all old Enterprise gear bought cheaply, the only new bits being the hard drives themselves. PoE cameras are mainly Dahua 4MP based on their 1/1.8" sensor (always prioritise sensor size over resolution). All the 10g ports are fibre connections. Again, the interface cards are remarkably cheap and the the setup is quite straightforward. I'm considering getting another R210 box to run a dedicated HA on bare metal rather than as a VM, but the VM is running so well, I'm not sure what I'll gain from that. Anyway, carry on Geeking and keep up the good work!

Would also love to see a vid on IOT security set up using unify

I'll give you a top tip... Do it the Portuguese way.. Don't run cat 6 cables through your walls.. Run pipes... I fully upgraded my parents house which was built in late 90's and was able to access every room through 20/30mm pipes that were left inside walls and floors.. I was shocked. How is this not a standard in England

Would love to see the UI setup!

I would love a video on how you secured your unifi network for IoT devices.

I am about to build and trying to get my ducks in a row for my networking. Would love to see how you set up that switch etc. I bought 1000' of cat 6 so i am ready.

Alan - I would agree with you totally on the Google Mesh system. I have been using one for several years, and while the Wifi coverage and uptime has been great, all of the advanced controls have been dumbed down so much, it becomes unusable for some of the functions that the true nerds among us would want to use. And sometimes, the GUI just loses devices making it impossible to assign port forwarding, IP reservations, etc. For my next house I am planning on upgrading to the TPLink Omada platform - which is supposed to be a cheaper alternative to Unifi - I hope...

Found you by a quick internet search as wanting to hardwire my home

I understand you might have had some of these items for a while. But I'd love if you listed out the items as you go over them or where to buy them

I went away from Ubiquiti for the reasons you explained. when the gear is new it's awesome but inevitably has some issues that I don't want to deal with. I went to a different solution and haven't looked back.

Another great video. Thank you. Maybe you can do a video on having your IOT devices on one or more separate VLANS and yet connect to them with your smartphone where many of the apps the IOT devices require. I don't really want my cell phone accessible from the IOT devices and their security issues. Like you I use PFsense, but I haven't figured out the firewall rules or other details to make it work. I'm getting closer to using Home Assistant and flashing ESP32s, but I'm not there yet. Thanks.

I'd never heard of Unifi kit until a few years ago... I'm assuming they are relatively new to the UK? I have to say the internet fanboying over it so much, puts me right off... So it's interesting to see a setup from scratch and hear your views. For the moment I'll stick with Draytek and Netgear for most of my LAN kit, as I've been using it for a very long time but I guess never say never. 🙂

Do you have a list of the kit you bought? I’m mostly interested in the ubiquiti stuff but good to get an idea for my future plans.

I’m also looking for a 24 ports poe switch but they are usually expensive and power hungry. Would love to hear about your 2 separate networks. Oh by the way I was considering Reolink cameras. Will wait for your camera videos. Cheers 🥂

Good to see you back, Alan. I assume this is the new house...

lol your network setup is almost exactly like mine :)

Why not having the switch closer to the patch panel? It definitely looks neater and its much faster to troubleshoot if you are using smaller patch cords

If your router supports DDNS you can also use that instead of a static IP. Depends on your use case/cost I guess.

Some thoughts: - I'm using the Parental Controls feature on my WiFi router to block access for my IoT devices. I just gave them static IP's & have them perma-blocked. - NabuCasa, Home Assistant's partner, has a service that provides external access to your HA. No static ISP IP necessary.

We had a 1 gigabit connection and we were automatically upgraded to 10 gigabit by our ISP two years ago. I really wish we just wired the place up with fibre. Please promise me you have easy conduit around your house and did not plaster over the wires, you may need to add some cables and simply use the cat cable as a DC circuit for Wi-Fi!

Pls do thr vlan & fw setup in unifying

Yes to configuration. How do you set up things like Chromecast on vlan and say a robot that uses an app on your phone

I have a home server for storing media and photos. 1 x 16tb HDD raid 1 with backup 4 x 4tb ssd raid 0 and 4 x 22 tb hdd raid 5 for storage. Basically its a 82TB google drive. I also been buying more and more smart devices ( smart light bulbs, google chrome cast, smart plugs , cameras , ring , thermometer , google home) and kinda notice that internet is slower, the range and reception is weaker. My questions are 1. Are my smart devices slowing down my internet / interfering the range? 2. Should I get a wifi extender or an extra router for better range and connection? 3. Should I have a separate server for my smart devices or should I use the same home server ? 4. If you have a server for storage databases and more and more smart devices , how would you set it up? I would prefer the easiest and most cost-effective solution. Thx

I'm jealous that you have a choice of ISPs and can even shop for features.

I have more than 65 connected devices in my home but the problem is that am living in north africa 😅 so we don’t have a big choice of router is a grandstream router good for a smart home ?? Thanx for answering my question

Very timely as I'm planning something very similar in a home in building right now. I will flood it with CAT6. The Unify routers, and most similar routers, don't have modems. How did you manage that? Did you use the ISPs router in bridge mode?

If you rely on WiFi and IP connected devices, then 100% a strong WiFi network is needed. If you mainly use Zigbee or Z-wave then Wifi is not so critical. I would say the average home user would never need a static IP Address. This is more for the power user and tinkerer. Same with blistering fast Interent. 50mbps is fine for Work from home, Teams and Zoom and 4K streaming. I love techy stuff, and I work in the networking field myself. Although there is good information in this video, a lot is overkill for majority of home users, even wfh with 4k streaming. That said, I still love your videos as I am a bit of a nerd too lol :)

Along the same lines as the Google WiFi, netgear Orbi is very limited in its admin options. They are killer wifi access points, but the router is not designed for power users.

I don’t have a new house, but planning to upgrade my network. I’ve got 3 questions based on your video: 1. Have you thought about a pfsense/opnsense router? (I am thinking to leave out the UDM pro) 2. You have a 24 switch, the box said the pro POE model. Right? And why? Because of layer 3 or the POE budget? Or? And is it overkill for the majority? 3. It seemed that you had 2x the NanoHD and 2x the pro model. Is the pro WiFi 6? And then, why the Nano HD which aren’t?

About 1:39, how so? I'm behind a CGNAT and I have port-fowarding enabled and working remotely.

Thanks for the great video. A quick question - was the wifi mesh or some additional access point. I'm not sure there is much difference!

Your network rack is fine. Could very much be cleaned up and organized differently.

If I WASN’T a huge nerd, I wouldn’t be watching your channel! 😜

I keep my CCTV kit WAY AWAY off the internet ... zero contact since it's made from China. If I want to access it remotely, I'll VPN in and look across the LAN. The firewall will simply ignore any request outside the LAN from any of the CCTV gear, the printer IIRC and other things. EDIT: FWIW I'm curious about the Ubiquiti gear, especially the router and cameras as I need more cams and a rackable router. ATM I'm using Sophos UTM (DAMN BRILLIANT router OS) on a little Atom 12v box which works great but isn't 1ru.

Are you saying that you are mixing fiber optics with cat6e?? How old is this video? What about cat8? Couldnt you have run fiber through your house? Just asking. Thanks

I love your videos but I am curious about your network performance. Early in the video you mentioned you ISP’s plan is a 900/900 plan. But at around 12:00 you say how your network is performing “perfectly”. You then show a speed test on your phone and your wireless speed is only 134/148. I have a similar setup as you with Ubiquity equipment but my service is only 500/500. (We have faster available but here in the US it is much more money and 500 symmetrical meets my needs.) Anyway, my wireless performance using Ubiquity access points is around 495/495. I think if you tweak your access point’s channel settings you should get much better performance.

Why not use a powerful router for example Netgear (orbi 960) rather than access points? Is there a particular reason? Thanks

Out of curiosity why did you go unifi protect over frigate? Enjoyed your previous frigate videos and protect seems a lot less open.

How much does a set up like yours cost (equipment only)

What major should I study to work and install a smart home system, smart cameras ,lights , voice control , automation and vim vision?

After reading some documents on these server racks I ready they have to be grounded. 1. Did you do that 2. Where do you attach it to in your house?

What 1U hardware is that between your two UniFi devices? Is it just to cover the empty space? Provide a link if you can please

Why not splurge for cat7? :) Also, UniFi is a bit of a cop-out - I was expecting you to hack the UniFi APs and run OpenWRT roaming :))) Great video as always!

FIBRE FOR THAT CHEAP!?!? I know it exists somewhat around me, but my only options rn are either in a pricy cable package, DSL, or 5G home internet plans (which are still slow here)

Why grey cables to the patch panel? I see purple cable from the clips with electricians

ISPs still have bandwidth limits?

When choosing a system for your home, did you consider a wired system from i3 Engineering?

uff such big prices :))) i pay 5£ for 1000 in Romania :) nice video

Be aware that bad solar panel systems can cause radio interference also giving problems to your Wifi and IOT devices.

Hey do you use duckdns or any other dns ? :)

I think it's over the top. IoT devices don't transmit huge chunks of data. I think the network is a bit over the top. Wifi networks have improved drastically in the past couple of years, and unless you are running a cooperate network, there is no need to run cable in this day and age. The network devices that you are running also consume a lot of power and generate a lot of heat. To that I say just get good coverage around the house and run everything off wifi. With regards to the internet connection, you need a decent stable connection, if your server is local then why do you need to transmit large volumes of your home automation data over the internet..? I live in a 500 square meter house with 100MB Fibre connection, I use TP link Deco to extend the network through the whole house and the speed I get at the furthest part of the house is around 70MB is is good enough for streaming, my IOT devices, working, etc. And my Home Assistant server is on a Dell PC that is located in the study. Just my 2c worth.

Interesting video. Why didn't you use keystones for your patch panel? Wouldn't that have been easier than punching down a whole lot of points? Also, why do you suggest Cat 6 when building a new home instead of OM-3/4, in other words a fibre backbone? Did you consider Cisco instead of Unify?

Do you know where you can pay to learn all this home network and smart home. Can you re4commend any training for this

Nice video as usual but the Tiger behind you was really unsettling

A static IP is not an option for many in North America without a business account that costs hundreds of dollars per month. Dynamic DNS services are the way to go for us. I use DuckDNS and have never lost connection to my home.

Surprised you didn't go pfsense

Is there value in running fiber instead of cat6?

How much did your electrician charge if you dont mind me asking?

Why not the Pro SE? What went into the decision between Pro SE and Pro?

A rack next to washing machine? :) That is the worst imaginable place to put that. Water leakage? If the incoming tube breaks that will spray water all over. Not to talk about humidity and vibration.... when they meet during the spin cycle.... Also it will be warm there during summer time. But I wish you luck to not have any water damage anyhow. While I totally against your idea at a minimum I suggest having multiple water leak detectors there + humidity sensor + an electric valve to the mains + vents with a proper automation. And put some sealing between the washing machine and rack for god's sake :))))

I suggest Cat 6A if you can.

i don't like all-in-one devices like the UDM. if you have to send it in for repair, you lose all the functionality. with separate components, you'd lose only the functionality that the failed device provides while everything else keeps working.

Need some better cable management

Server rack could definitely look better

Shouldn’t you run fibre? I’d like to have my gaming PC in a different room from where my computer is.

cat5e or cat6 is really slow. i have cat6a in my home for 15 years already. in my opinion that would be the minimal as it is the first cable with 10GB as opposed to 1GB for cat5e or cat6. i think people should be aware of that before they install cables in their house. The prices are fairly similar and the overall amount is not much. so CAT6A minimum in my opinion

got mine for 10 quid less

first!

Speeds like yours are surely FTP no?

Bro my internet was build into my house

Way over priced & engineered for a home network. Great setup if price was no object!

Unifi? Seriously? Low LOW end WAPs....DDNS works perfectly (in the US) with even a semi decent UTM edge. So many half truths in your video is off the charts....

Are you wearing lipstick?

lamest setup ever