New networking Gear

I built a new desktop 5 years ago. It was my first 2.5Gb device. But as the rest of my equipment was stuck on ancient 1Gb NICs, I didn’t see a reason to upgrade. I recently built a new storage server, and now that both my desktop and my storage server had 2.5Gb NICs, it was time to upgrade my networking equipment. I figured while upgrading my whole networking to 2.5Gb, I should also move to Wi-Fi 7. I bought a Unifi UDR7 and the new 2.5Gb Flex PoE switch. I plan on installing some Access Points (APs) around the house, but that requires feeding cat6 through the walls, so that’s a project for another day.

I periodically check out the unifi reddit page, and would periodically stumble on photos of really clean 10" mini rack setup, so I waited for Black Friday to get all the parts to tidy up my networking equipment. This what what I had to start with.

I decided to buy the DeskPi 10" mini rack (4U model). I also 3d printed stuff for my modem and switch to look nice. Check it out. It’s a big improvement, right?