Hey! This is my personal homelab documentation / Context!
This repository probably serves as a log of my experiments, configurations, and lessons i learned while tinkering with servers, routers, and devices :P
The main goal is to learn by doing, give old hardware a second life & prioritize privacy
“I think everyone should learn self-hosting for privacy and ownership reasons”
I started learning about this with my old laptop that had an amazing first gen intel i3-M370 and 3 gigs of RAM... The cherry on top is that it has no battery (why are replacement parts so expensive...)
Even though the setup was kind of scuffed, I was able to explore:
- Installing and configuring Ubuntu Server
- Getting to know the basics of Docker, SSH, Linux Terminal Usage
(!) TLDR I consider this one helped me have a great introduction to server concepts, resource management, and CLI-based administration
My motivation to optimize my home network made me land into this excellent OSS custom router firmware. Flashing OpenWRT onto a TP-Link Archer C20 V5 was rather an interesting thing to do when i did NOT have a backup router (funny enough, this C20 V5 does NOT exist as a real model, but thanks to some random community forum, i found out it is a V4 model but sold exclusively by ISPs).
What I think i learned doing this:
- Researching compatibility and firmware builds
- Flashing routers without bricking them (scary!)
try toconfigure my network setupa little bit moreefficiently
(!) TLDR This was my first experience with a 100% open-source router environment, meaning that i was able to touch everything (and break maybe) while at the same time be able to learn more indepth about DHCP, DNS, INTERFACES and Firewalls
Wanted to learn how to optimize Android TVs for better performance & privacy (i may hate you google)
Did some tinkering with:
- Custom launchers
- Lightweight app setups
- Reduce background bloatware
- Open Source applications
(!) TLDR This experience helped me understand better Android’s system layers / performance and how much horrible telemetry there is
I was looking for a cheap and efficient way to selfhost some services with hardware i had! I ended up discovering Termux and
Here’s my roadmap of what I want to explore next:
- Proxmox Server – Virtualization and container management
- NAS – Network storage using old hardware
- Pi-Hole – Network-wide DNS ad-blocking
- Media – Streaming alternatives (Stremio - Jellyfin)
- More TV customization – Getting to customize more either Android TV boxes or sticks for personal use
- Wired Ethernet Setup – Self explanatory
“The best way to learn is to break stuff (not intentionally) and then fix them (after an all-nighter)”
I want to thank all the content creators that motivated me to follow this path! The main ones being but not limited to
Hardware Haven Network Chuck Tech By Matt Ardens Hector Pulido
And of course, a huge thanks to the community r/homelab , even though i dont usually post, they are a gold mine.