Home Networking: 10GbE, Firewalls & Gear — TechFuel HQ

Networking guides

Home network upgrades for people who want their bandwidth to match their use case, not their fantasy. Coverage spans 1G to 10G to 25G, with budget tiers and an honest answer to “do you actually need this?” at each step.

Articles here cite throughput numbers from a 2024–2025 home test bench (most of that gear is now retired — see Colophon) plus published third-party measurements with named sources.

Speed Tier Decisions

2.5GbE vs 10GbE for the Homelab in 2026: Which to Buy

The 2026 case for and against 2.5GbE vs 10GbE in a homelab: price gap, real throughput, when the extra cost pays off, and why most should start at 2.5GbE.

10GbE Homelab Networking on a Budget: A 2026 Guide

Build a 10GbE homelab link for $50 with used Mellanox ConnectX-3 cards and DACs. Three full-stack tiers, four switches compared, plus when 2.5GbE is enough.

DNS & Filtering

AdGuard Home + Local DNS on Proxmox (2026 Setup Guide)

Set up AdGuard Home as your homelab DNS server on Proxmox: ad-blocking, local *.lan resolution, DHCP, and an optional Unbound recursive resolver.

WireGuard Self-Hosted VPN on Proxmox (2026 Setup Guide)

Run your own WireGuard VPN in a Proxmox LXC: server setup, phone and laptop client configs, split vs full tunnel, and an honest comparison to Tailscale.

Firewall & Routing

Homelab Firewall & Router: pfSense vs OPNsense vs MikroTik

pfSense Plus, OPNsense 26.1, MikroTik RouterOS 7, and UniFi 4.1 compared on a real homelab bench: throughput, IDS, multi-WAN, and where each one falls down.

OPNsense on a Mini PC: Firewall Router Setup Guide (2026)

Replace your ISP router with OPNsense on a cheap mini PC: install, set up WAN/LAN, DHCP and DNS, enable IDS/IPS with Suricata, and connect your homelab.

VLANs for the Homelab: Network Segmentation Guide (2026)

How to set up VLANs in your homelab: isolate IoT, separate a guest network, add a management VLAN. Covers OPNsense, MikroTik bridge VLAN filtering, and Proxmox VLAN-aware bridges.

Budget Gear

MikroTik CRS305: The $80 10GbE Homelab Switch, Long Term

MikroTik CRS305-1G-4S+IN, run long-term in the homelab: four SFP+ ports, a gigabit management port, RouterOS or SwOS, 7-9W idle, and the case for and against.

Best Homelab Networking Gear Under $200 (2026): Routers & APs

Best homelab router under $200 in 2026: MikroTik RB5009, UniFi Cloud Gateway Max, GL.iNet Flint 2 and MikroTik hAP ax3 compared on speed, ports and VPN, plus switches and Wi-Fi 7 APs.

More from this section

Tailscale vs Cloudflare Tunnel for Homelab (2026)

Tailscale vs Cloudflare Tunnel compared for homelab remote access: who decrypts your traffic, protocol coverage, client needs, CGNAT, and the run-both split.

ZeroTier vs Tailscale (2026): Layer 2 Switch or Plug-and-Play Mesh?

ZeroTier vs Tailscale in 2026, decided on the one question that actually matters: do you need a Layer 2 virtual switch or the simplest secure remote access? Honest homelab tradeoffs on free tiers, self-hosting, speed, and the recent ZeroTier licensing shift.

NetBird vs Tailscale (2026): The Self-Hosted Mesh VPN Question

NetBird vs Tailscale in 2026, decided on the one question that actually matters: do you want to own the control plane? Honest homelab tradeoffs on self-hosting, cost, policy, and speed.

WireGuard vs OpenVPN for the Homelab (2026): A Self-Hoster's Decision Guide

WireGuard vs OpenVPN decided for self-hosters, not VPN-service shoppers: protocol architecture, real router benchmarks, road-warrior vs site-to-site, the TCP-443 scenario OpenVPN still wins outright, and the run-both setup we actually use.

Tailscale vs WireGuard (2026): Which One Should You Actually Run?

Tailscale vs WireGuard in 2026, decided on the one question that actually matters: can you port-forward? Honest homelab tradeoffs on CGNAT, setup, speed, and control.

OPNsense vs pfSense (2026): Which Firewall Should You Actually Run?

OPNsense vs pfSense in 2026, decided on the things that actually matter: licensing, UI, plugins, security cadence, and real homelab bench numbers. A focused two-way firewall-OS pick, not a spec dump.

Wi-Fi 7 for the Homelab and Home Network in 2026: Is It Worth It?

An honest 2026 look at Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be): the 46 Gbps marketing number vs real throughput, why MLO matters more than speed, and who should actually upgrade.