Home network building

[u/Prohunter10]

Hi everyone!

I’m planning to build a home network mainly using MikroTik equipment, and I’d appreciate your thoughts on the design and possible alternatives.

I have two houses next to each other, each with a separate electrical supply from the utility company.

\- House 1: approximately 100 m², with the internet connection.

\- House 2: approximately 70 m².

Proposed network setup

I’m considering an RB5009UG+S+IN as the main router in House 1, with a CSS610-8G-2S+IN switch in each house.

My plan is to use 10 GbE single-mode fibre between the router and the first switch, and between the two switches. I’d use OS2 single-mode fibre with SFP+ modules, such as the S+31DLC10D.

I want to use fibre between the houses because they have separate electrical supplies, so I’d rather avoid a copper connection between them.

For Wi-Fi, I’d like to install one AP in each house, ideally with seamless roaming between them. I’ve been looking at the MikroTik hAP ax S, but I’m also open to standalone APs from other manufacturers.

Questions

1. Does the proposed routing and switching setup make sense, or would you choose different MikroTik devices?
   
2. Would it be worth investing in 2.5 GbE switches, particularly with a NAS and a mini PC server being added to the network in the future?
   
3. Would you prioritise PoE-capable switches, with security cams possibly being added to the network?
   
4. Would Wi-Fi 7 APs be worth the extra cost, or would Wi-Fi 6 be sufficient for this setup?
   
5. What would you recommend for roaming between the two houses? Would you stick with MikroTik, or mix MikroTik switching and routing with APs from another vendor?

I’m trying to strike a good balance between cost, performance, reliability, and future expandability without overspending on features I won’t really benefit from.

I’d appreciate any suggestions or alternative setups.

Thanks!

[u/edWurz7]

From what I've read, Mikrotik make great routers, but terrible APs. I have an rb5009 and Omada APs. The RB5009 was a lot easier to set up and configure than I feared. They play nicely. You'll want to get an Omada controller or build one.

I think Mikrotik makes OK switches. Their routers are fantastic for the price IMHO

[u/sharpied79 → u/edWurz7]

Running x2 HAP AX2 and x1 WAP AX all managed with CAPSMAN via a Hex refresh.

Works great.

Regularly see approx 700-800Mbs out of my client devices...

[u/Prohunter10 → u/edWurz7]

Thank you for the reply!

[u/ksteink]

The CSS610 only supports 1 Gbps and has no PoE (at least the model that you selected) and has 10 Gbps uplinks. Your RB5009 has only 1 x 10 Gbps so one of the switches will run at 1 Gbps instead of 10 Gbps.

Also if you plan for APs Wi-Fi 7 uses speeds higher than 1 Gbps.

I will review this carefully if I were you to ensure that I have covered my needs and potential future expansion.

[u/Prohunter10 → u/ksteink]

Thank you for your reply!

I understand the limitations of devices I mentioned. My main questions were whether I need Wi-Fi 7, 2,5Gbps ports or PoE. For example I read that tri-band APs are good because there’s little to no interference in the 6GHz region.

And CSS610 has 2 SFP+ ports, are both of them uplinks? Couldn’t I daisy chain them together? Or even if I can is not advised to do so?

I’d appreciate any suggestions, I just recently started learning about networking.

[u/ksteink → u/Prohunter10]

To answer your questions:

• I will use the CSS610-8P to have PoE but be aware that it supports PoE+ instead the CSS610-8G. Medium to Large Wi-Fi 7 APs will required PoE++
  
• I am not big fan of CSS line as it only supports SwOS instead of RouterOS but that's me that I like more RouterOS and I get more configuration options.
  
• The 10 Gbps ports are mainly for uplinks, as best practice is not good to daisy chain them but technically speaking you can do it. I will do to each uplink to the main router or L3 Core Switch but the RB5009 has the limitation has only 1 x 10 Gbps port

[u/Prohunter10 → u/ksteink]

Thanks for the help!

[u/MrMotofy]

I wouldn't waste time with 2.5Gb devices...if you want speed/capacity go straight for 10Gb. It's been industry standard for probably 15yrs or more

[u/Prohunter10 → u/MrMotofy]

I’d gladly go straight to the big guns but they don’t come cheap…

[u/MrMotofy → u/Prohunter10]

Well a 4 x 10Gb port managed Mikrotik is about $275, or an 8port unmanaged TpLink is $3-400. A Trendnet managed 12port with RJ45 and 4x SFP+ is $470. So depending on your needs. Your whole network doesn't need to be 10Gb, just a few ports for your main devices needing it.

[u/Wadecong]

Drew your plan with the speed of each link on the cable. The routing and fibre part works as you have it; the places it'll hold you back are the copper ports and PoE:

- **Daisy-chaining the switches is fine here.** The RB5009 has one SFP+ cage, so router → house 1 switch → house 2 switch is how you keep both houses on 10G without adding another switch. House 2 can't send more than 8 × 1G anyway, so sharing that 10G link costs nothing, and the S+31DLC10D on single-mode keeps the houses electrically separate like you want.

- **Every copper port on the CSS610-8G is 1G**, so that's the ceiling for the NAS, the mini PC and any AP. A 2.5G NAS or a Wi-Fi 7 AP only pays off on a 2.5G port. If you want that, the CRS310-8G+2S+IN (8 × 2.5G + 2 SFP+, ~$219, no PoE) can take the house 1 switch's place, and Wi-Fi 6 is plenty on 1G ports.

- **Check PoE before buying the hAP ax S.** It only takes passive 18–28 V PoE-in, so it runs off its own adapter; even a PoE switch like the CSS610-8P-2S+IN (802.3af/at, 140 W) can't power it. If you want cameras and ceiling APs on PoE, that switch plus a cAP ax (takes 802.3af/at) covers both.