Networking Overview
This section documents the home lab network design, including VLANs, routing, switching, wireless access, guest access, and Tailnet transit.
The MikroTik acts as the main router, firewall, DHCP gateway, VLAN gateway, and guest HotSpot controller. The TP-Link Omada managed switch extends the VLANs at Layer 2, while the Google Nest operates in bridged mode for the main Wi-Fi network on VLAN 40.
Network diagram
Network sections
High-level design
| Area | Summary |
|---|---|
| Router | MikroTik provides routing, firewalling, DHCP, NAT, guest HotSpot, and VLAN gateways |
| Switching | TP-Link Omada managed switch carries VLANs 10, 20, 40, 50, and 99 |
| Management | VLAN 10 is used for router, switch, and host management |
| Servers | VLAN 20 hosts internal services and infrastructure workloads |
| Main Wi-Fi | VLAN 40 is delivered through the downstream Google Nest router in bridged mode |
| Entertainment | VLAN 50 is used for entertainment and media devices |
| Tailnet transit | VLAN 99 provides the no-SNAT transit path to the Tailscale router |
| Guest Wi-Fi | MikroTik provides the guest SSID directly through wifi1 and HotSpot |