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Edrees Dahlan
Personal infrastructure lab

Home Networking, VPN & Self-Hosting

A private 5G home network with gaming router, mesh access points, ZeroTier remote access, Pi-hole DNS filtering, and Raspberry Pi services.

Context
Private home network
Focus
Network setup, self-hosting and monitoring
Category
Personal infrastructure lab

Key Outcomes

  • Private access to home resources
  • More consistent wireless connectivity
  • Less distracting browsing on configured devices

The Challenge

The goal was to connect diverse home devices over Wi-Fi and make selected home LAN resources, including 3D printer controls, accessible while away without relying on a separate paid printer-access subscription.

My Approach

  • Configured a 5G router with a Netgear Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR1000 running DumaOS 3.0, plus Totolink X30 mesh nodes in access-point mode.
  • Used ZeroTier for private remote access to authorized home network resources and local 3D printer interfaces.
  • Deployed Pi-hole for DNS-based filtering of unwanted advertising and domains across configured devices.
  • Ran Raspberry Pi 4 self-hosted services including Docker, Uptime Kuma, Obico and Moonraker, with monitoring and troubleshooting as needed.

Results & Impact

The home network evolved into a connected, privately accessible environment rather than a collection of isolated devices. The network layout, self-hosted services and VPN access made it easier to manage home resources while away and reduced the need for separate vendor-specific remote access paths.

  • Private access to home resources. ZeroTier provided an authorized route to selected LAN services, including 3D printer monitoring, without exposing printer control panels directly to the open internet.
  • More consistent wireless connectivity. The 5G router, Netgear XR1000 and Totolink X30 access-point arrangement created a more organized foundation for devices that depend on Wi-Fi throughout the home.
  • Less distracting browsing on configured devices. Pi-hole introduced centralized DNS-based ad and unwanted-domain filtering, reducing the need to configure the same basic blocking rules separately on every compatible device.
  • Better awareness of service outages. Uptime Kuma made self-hosted service availability easier to check, so connectivity and application issues could be identified and investigated instead of discovered only after a task failed.
  • More control over recurring costs and maintenance. Self-hosted services and private network access provided practical alternatives to some paid remote-monitoring workflows, while keeping configuration and troubleshooting under personal control.

The outcome was a home-lab platform that is easier to reach, observe and maintain, with improved visibility into service availability and less dependence on disconnected device applications.