What is your actual home network setup and what would you change?

[TheLegendBrett88]

Not aspirational, not what you would build if money were no object. Your actual current setup with its actual compromises and the things you tolerate that you probably should not. And what the one thing you would change is if you were doing it again.

I have been looking at my router situation with increasing dissatisfaction for about six months and have used the inertia around changing it to wonder whether anyone else has a similar experience of tolerated imperfection.

[RadekVítek]

ISP provided router that I have been meaning to replace for two years. The WiFi coverage is fine except in the one room where I spend most of my time. This is entirely my fault and I am going to fix it when I fix it.

[Kernel]

Moved to a mesh system 18 months ago after years of fighting with powerline adapters and a single router in the wrong room. The difference was immediate and significant. Should have done it years earlier.

[MJF]

Pi-hole on a Raspberry Pi for network-wide ad blocking. Combined with a decent router it is the setup I would recommend to anyone who wants better performance and privacy with one moderate investment of time.

[GlobalBob37]

The honest answer is that I have a very capable setup I spent too much money on and I use it to do things that would work fine on the cheapest router my ISP would give me. The capability ceiling is not my use ceiling.

[HeartbreakKidStuart26]

VLANs for IoT devices separated from my main network. This is the change I made that I most recommend. Smart bulbs and similar devices should not be on the same network as your laptop. Simple security improvement.

[ShadowPilot83]

Three access points through the house, all wired back to a central switch. No mesh technology, just proper cabling. Overkill for most people but the performance and reliability of wired backhaul versus wireless is noticeable.

[Nina24]

I would change where I put the main router when we moved in. Ten minutes of thought at the start would have saved three years of compromises. Cable routing is the boring answer to most home network problems.

[Oscar_86]

Honestly the thing I would change is the ISP. No amount of good home equipment compensates for inconsistent line quality at the source.