Over the decades I've been into computing, I've been an early adopter of many networking features, but I've always had to balance budgetary constraints with the needs of the devices on my home network. Plus, I never really stayed in one place long enough to want to wire up my home for fast Ethernet. Instead, I prioritized mobility and wireless stability, and it's taken me some time to unlearn these ways now that I'm more settled.

But I've been working on building a more resilient home network lately and that's made me consider where I should be spending effort for the best results. I've added prosumer hardware, including a 10GbE capable managed switch, let access points (APs) only handle wireless connectivity, while a hardwired dedicated appliance handles routing and security, and added a mix of copper and fiber wiring depending on the devices on either end.

I'm not quite sure exactly what I expected once 10GbE links were added and faster Wi-Fi was in play, but it hasn't been the earth-shattering revelation that faster connectivity could have been. Some things are measurably faster, others less so, and the things I can sense but can't quite measure might be from faster hardware handling the data packets, rather than the speed at which those packets can travel.

My dreams of 10GbE everywhere didn't come to fruition

But I managed to wire up the parts of my network that could benefit most

One of the things about this career path is that you end up with a mixed assortment of tech, in this case, networking appliances, that technically all work together, but some assembly is required. That's okay; flexibility is part of it, as is choosing which aspects to focus on to demonstrate feasibility. To get enough of my home network using 10GbE links, it would take a router (with two 10GbE and two 2.5GbE ports), a managed switch (two 10GbE SFP+ ports and lots of 2.5GbE), and a couple of Wi-Fi 7 access points, plus some client devices.

• One 10GbE port from the router to the main Wi-Fi AP
• One 10GbE port from the router to the 10GbE port on my NAS
• One 2.5GbE port on the router as the WAN ingress from my Gigabit fiber ONT
• One 2.5GbE port from the router to a 2.5GbE port on the managed switch
• Each SFP+ port on the managed switch is connected to a different desktop PC

I could have used a 2.5GbE port to connect to the AP because while it's Wi-Fi 7, I don't think I have any client devices with an antenna configuration that could max it out. I could also have moved everything to the managed switch, but I wanted to utilize every 10GbE-capable port, and the prosumer hardware is fast enough not to slow down packets in transit appreciably.

I could have done with some more 10GbE ports

While I was planning which network switch would become the backbone of my new network, I wasn't quite ambitious enough. I knew I wanted a managed switch, with PoE++, so I could power my access points without the dreadful wall warts they come with. I wanted all of the ports to be faster than Gigabit, because the network cards and appliances that I already owned were a mix of 2.5GbE and 10GbE, and I wanted those to connect at their maximum (or close to it) capabilities.

I wasn't quite sure how many 10GbE-capable ports I wanted, only that I wanted them and SFP+ ports, and I wanted to see what fiber optic networking was all about. Add a dash of overexcitement and a splash of not reading the specs sheet properly, and I ended up with only two SFP+ ports to play with. Still, it was enough to connect to my NAS and to my desktop PC, and I thought I could get by. In hindsight, I should have taken the number of ports I felt I needed and multiplied it by several factors, because while I can add another network switch, it's extra space in my rack that could have been used for other things.

10GbE isn't the fix you think it might be

But hoo boy, the things it does work on are really fixed

While I only managed to wire parts of my network up with 10GbE, the client devices I have that could handle the extra bandwidth saw immediate improvements. Even my Proxmox mini PC with 2.5GbE NICs was more responsive, and the extra ports on the switch meant I could connect both ports from the mini PC. The reason? Using one NIC for general pass-through while dedicating the other to the virtual machine I was working on.

My NAS, which is always running a media server along with whatever random home lab experiments I'm tinkering with, also prefers the extra bandwidth, which means I could offload camera footage directly to it and edit without moving local copies to my PC. I have a bad habit of copying things, then not removing the extra copies once done, making deduplication runs a necessary part of my monthly digital hygiene routines.

And yes, my PCs were able to transfer large chunks of data very quickly, which I love because I'm impatient and don't like sitting there staring at the progress bar. I say I don't like it, but I also can't help but watch it, so the quicker it's gone, the better. However, I couldn't improve my Steam installation speeds, as those were already hitting the upper limits of my Gigabit ISP plan.

The reality was somewhat more subdued

Things like browsing the internet didn't really change much, nor did streaming content from any of the services I subscribe to, but I expected that. Things did feel more responsive but that could have been a placebo effect, or minor improvements from using more powerful networking appliances to route packets.

I noticed one thing that I wouldn't have guessed before testing: the wireless network was much more responsive for every other device after I removed my two desktop PCs from it. I'm sure some of that's from Windows 11 being noisy af, and also, however many connections to my Proxmox server are running at one time. But it was immediately noticeable on my smartphone and streaming boxes, and I didn't expect that at all.

Next time will be different (honest)

The next time I upgrade my home network, and there will be a next time, it won't be so rushed. I've already started gathering tools and other necessities, like a shielded patch panel so I can pull the bundle of cables outside my garage, into the garage so that they can be properly terminated, and I can use the cabling the builders pulled through conduit to every room in my house.

That will let me hardwire more things at 10GbE speeds, and even if it's just the backhaul between floors, and the APs I plan to mount on each floor, that's exciting. It's not happening until summer fades into autumn, because it's like an oven in the garage right now, but that gives me time to plan. I have to figure out where to put the network cabinet, how to get power to it, and a few other considerations, but the delayed gratification will be worth it.