Comment by dotBen | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dotBen | Hacker News Reader

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Enterprise-grade home wifi and networking paired with a generous (1gig) ISP connection we don't really need but is never slow.

High-end espresso machine that makes coffee in one button but with all the settings configurable (grind, volume, temperature, etc)

Canon M50 SLR camera permanently mounted for Zoom calls - got the Mk1 open box, looks amazing on calls, wasn't insanely expensive (~$500).

Tesla Model 3P. We just got a flat at home, they came out and swapped the tire for a temp one within 2hrs and then came to the home the next day to repair/replace the flat. Sadly needed replacing but all we paid for the whole experience in the end was the cost of the tire and that was cheaper than local SF places (which are $$). There's so many other great things about Tesla: it's practically maintenance free, the P edition is faster than a Lambo off the line, it's super safe in a crash, carbon neutral when paired with renewable power source, etc. Might be out of scope for this Ask HN but I just feel it's worth every $ I paid for it, and it's apparently only lost about 5% of it's value in 2.5 years which is unheard of in the car industry.

Seeing as a few people are asking for more info on the enterprise home wifi.

Main objective is flawless heavy-usage (Zoom, streaming media) from multiple clients within the home, plus support of lots of clients (we have over 150 assigned IP addresses in the house).

My setup is a server cabinet consisting of Ubiquiti EdgeRouter to handle >1Gbps connection, ISP's preferred modem (so they can't shirk out of full support for the connection which they do if you provide your own equipment), Ubiquiti 24 port POE switch, Ubiquiti Cloud Key Gen2+, Synology NAS, Multicore server running docker containers.

I then have 4 Ubiquiti AP AC PRO wireless access points dotted throughout the home (3 level home) all on wired backhaul to the 24 port switch powered by POE and 2 Ubiquiti 8 port switches at different locations for media center, office etc.

I would imagine the total setup is about $1500 which for a large home we both use to work out of too is very reasonable. It was legitimately tax deductible as well.

My satisfaction with Ubiquiti is declining, in part because of the security issue last year. However there isn't really anything I would replace it with because the main draw of Ubiquiti at this class is that it doesn't have recurring licensing fees like Cisco Meraki does (which are $$$$). I could try to roll my own on some of this but I'm too old/busy to run pfSense and a *-WRT flavor etc. If I was buying a new Ubiquiti setup, which if you rely on home internet I would still advocate for, I would buy a Ubiquiti Dream Machine Pro which negates the router, switch and cloud key as separate purchases. It wasn't available when I purchased this setup a few years ago.

ADDED: Some people below said their Ubiquiti equipment was hard to set up, I actually found it super easy and there is a GUI to help you. I'm am/was happy sysop'ing servers over SSH so YMMV. One strong suggestion is to use their dedicated administration device the Cloud Key rather than roll your own on a docker container. The most problems I have in my entire setup are things running in docker so I try to not have them as dependencies but I am running PiHole for DNS which causes problems if it goes down.

Dream Machine running NextDNS and Tailscale on the device itself feels a little bit like living in the future. It finally feels like a culmination of promises and desire, simplified into something that is just non-discrete enough to disappear. There is an ebb and flow to wanting all your components interchangeable, and then longing for an all-in-one. Having your router itself be a Tailscale exit node is slick. When something goes wrong, there are three panes of glass, but only one hardware device to investigate.

https://github.com/nextdns/nextdns/wiki/UnifiOS

https://github.com/SierraSoftworks/tailscale-udm

https://tailscale.com/kb/1103/exit-nodes/

The other home networking things I would throw in that people may find useful are: using MoCA to put access points in places that have an existing coax drop but running an ethernet line is impractical, you can have y and forked shaped networks without switches (although not the cheapest solution); and http://getchannels.com + an hdhomerun (tuner -> ethernet) plus a media server, nas, or nvidia shield.

It's interesting how "feeling futuristic" is a single network device that does everything and an over the air tv antenna, but the shit actually "just works" finally.

I just got 1gig fiber installed yesterday and it's worth every penny to me.

What do you recommend for enterprise grade wifi? My current setup isn't great.

I bought an ASUS mesh system, I think it’s like the rx-92?, based on suggestions here previously. I love it, the ui is incredible and you can tweak lots of settings. For 2 units I get pretty good coverage in my home with masonry blocks all over the dang place and thick wood everywhere (it’s a 50’s home). I can even use ddns and an OpenVPN connection on it with very little work, and it supports a lot of other things like printer sharing and file serving from a usb drive. It’s about 400 bucks. It’s not “enterprise” but it’s just as good and has none of the cloud bullshit.

It's very easy for a 1gig connection to saturate residential hardware, especially if you have a symmetrical connection which I assume you do if it's fiber. Definitely look into Ubiquti, I posted above a bit more on my setup. I hear the concerns, there are other options but IMHO they have downsides. Going used is an option if you can locate working true enterprise equipment from an office but make sure there isn't a recurring software license on the equipment which many of the vendors implement. I've actually known of offices ripping out their perfectly fine, working equipment because it was cheaper to switch to a different vendor than continue to pay the license fees.

Ubiquiti Unifi setup is the sweet spot, good hardware and software at a decent price.

Can you elaborate on the benefits you see from this setup? I ran a Unifi setup for about a year before tearing it out and replacing it with an older Linksys 1900ACS. The Unifi took an enormous amount of trouble to setup to provide worse coverage than the Linksys for 3x the price. Not only that but it was a huge eyesore, with 3 different units with 3 wall warts all intertangled with cat6 cable. All of that on top of the recent scandals and I couldn't be happier throwing it into storage.

I've found Unifi to be a pain to set up just right. But once you've got things just right, it's generally pretty fast and reliable.

I heard that Ubiquiti went through an outsourcing / cost cutting phase recently and a lot of complaints about their software.

So I spent a little more and went with Aruba Instant On and it seems good so far. I really just wanted the ability to make however many VLANs I wanted.

Used ruckus wireless AP on ebay. I have a R720, works great.

What is the benefit of enterprise grade Wi-Fi at home? Is it for have better coverage for a larger space or general performance?

What kind of wifi do you have? We got a Netgear Orbi system for our 5400 ft^2 house and it's never worked properly.

> carbon neutral when paired with renewable power source

That's if you don't count manufacturing and repairs of course.

Well, the battery is actually the most problematic part of the environmental footprint. Repairs/maintenance are very minor on a Tesla.

The way we look at it is a family of 3 with a young baby needs a car, we only have one car, and it's the most environmentally friendly one we could get as all cars have some manufacturing overhead. It was also manufactured 60 miles away so the delivery footprint was small too. We're trying our best!

which espresso machine do you have?

Phillips Xelsis https://www.usa.philips.com/c-m-ho/coffee/saeco-automatic-es...

This is probably my fourth full automatic espresso machine, definitely the best I've owned. Amortize the price based on how much coffee you drink (I drink 4 a day) and cost of coffee shop vs machine + beans. Factor in well used machines probably last 3-5 years and then they do need replacing.

I make a personal rule that I only buy $$ coffee from coffee shops if I'm wanting to sit and work/meet (less likely these days) or if I'm really on the go and need a pick-me-up. Otherwise I make a latte on the machine and bring it with me in a vacuum container when I am out and about.

People will think this is expensive and it probably is but not super expensive when talking about espresso machines.

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