Home Network Redesign

Overview

For years my home network consisted of the standard AT&T fiber gateway paired with an Eero Pro 6 mesh system. It worked well for everyday internet access, but as my home lab grew, so did the limitations of a consumer-first network.

Adding servers, cameras, smart home devices, and self-hosted services meant everything lived on essentially the same trusted network. Troubleshooting became difficult, visibility was limited, and I had very little control over how devices communicated with one another.

Rather than continuing to build on top of those limitations, I decided to redesign the network from the ground up using UniFi.

The goal wasn’t simply faster Wi-Fi. I wanted a network that was organized, secure, and easy to manage—one that treated my home more like a small enterprise than a collection of connected devices.

What I Built

• Foundation

  Replaced the AT&T gateway with a UniFi-first network architecture.

• Routing

  Configured VLANs, firewall rules, and traffic segmentation for personal, IoT, work, servers, and guest devices.

• Wireless

  Optimized Wi-Fi coverage using UniFi access points and roaming improvements.

• Security

  Implemented device isolation, NextDNS, and network policies to improve security.

• Management

  Centralized monitoring and configuration through the UniFi Controller.

• Performance

  Validated connectivity, throughput, and reliability across every VLAN.

What I learned

The redesign centered around UniFi hardware, replacing my previous consumer networking equipment with devices designed for centralized management and long-term scalability.

The network is built around:

• UniFi Cloud Gateway

• UniFi switches

• UniFi Wi-Fi access points

• Managed VLAN architecture

• NextDNS integration

• Cloudflare Tunnel for selected services

Every component is managed from a single interface, making firmware updates, troubleshooting, and configuration dramatically simpler than my previous setup.