r/homelabindia

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of improving my homelab network and could use some advice.

Right now everything in house is connected directly to my ISP router:

• Homelab PC and old lap 
• My laptop
• Phones
• Other home devices

It works, but I don't think this is the best way to build a homelab. I'd like to separate my lab traffic from the rest of my home network and have more control over everything.

ISP Router → Switch → Homelab devices    

i have 2 devices now for homelab adding one more in few days so only need like 4 port to max 8 port switch

I'm looking for a budget-friendly managed switch that offers good value

I'd love to hear what everyone is using Thanks!

hey like the title says, I want to get started with homelabbing, I want to start with a cluster of 2-3 Mini PCs. I am looking to spend somewhere in the neighborhood for 15k. Any suggestions or advice?

I’m building a home server to run Proxmox, Docker, a NAS, Plex/Jellyfin, and a few VMs for software development, self-hosted services, and small coding projects.

After doing quite a bit of market research, I’m finding that similarly specced Dell T440s and HP Z4 G4s are available at roughly the same price in the used market.

Which one would you recommend for a reliable, power-efficient, and upgradeable 24/7 home server? Or is there a third option that I should be considering in the same price range?

I've seen a lot of posts from people in the US and Europe getting retired office PCs or workstations from companies, universities, or e-waste recyclers for free or at very low prices.

Does this happen in India as well?

If anyone has managed to get ex-corporate desktops, workstations, or servers, how did you find them? Did you contact companies directly, buy from recyclers, attend auctions, or use some other method?

I want to b@y a sata m.2 for my lenovo m700 tiny for a casa os server, should I go for a new EVM 256gb sata m.2 or used WD 256gb sata m.2? EVM price is 3300rs, and WD price is 2500 + shipping maybe.

Hello all, I am have ordered a setup with i3 9th gen (9100), 8 GB DDR4 RAM, 256 SSD from local guy with 1 year warranty for 12k. Was planning on extra 8 GB but it was an additional 4500 for that so kept it on hold. My questions are: 1. Is this good value for money deal? 2. I don't have a static IP, So what will be good long term stable solution for public access that doesn't sacrifice speed? 3. Kinda basic but If you have both local and public URL for Jellyfin, Do I need to switch every time if I want max speed of home network? 4. I am planning on installing Ubuntu server or Should I go with ZimaOS for simplicity? I am planning on running on Hermes agent so If it will work same as on Ubuntu or Will it have limited functionality. Any video or guide that help me speedrun through setup will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I am looking for a 5G router. I found some on Alibaba from ZBT and DNXT the latter being a lot cheaper.

Are these legitimate?

Hey everyone, just sharing a massive cautionary tale about Airtel Xstream Fiber and their predatory retention traps. If you are disconnecting your Airtel broadband, record every single phone call.

Here is the absolute nightmare they’ve put me through over the last 8 months:

• 170+ Complaints & Harassment: After months of severe DNS issues and dead internet, I filed dozens of complaints. Instead of fixing it, an Airtel supervisor showed up at my house unannounced and tried to coerce me into giving him an OTP to force-close the complaint. I recorded him and formally disconnected my service.
• The "Free Trial" Trap: Their retention team begged me to take a "one-month free trial" just to test if the network was fixed. The representative verbally guaranteed on a recorded line that if the internet dropped at all, the account would automatically disconnect with zero charges. It went down for 3 days during the trial, so I told them I was done.
• Secret Reactivation: Weeks later, I got a bill in 18 of June. Airtel had secretly and unlawfully reinstated my connection without my consent and started charging me for a dead, officially terminated service.
• The Nodal Officer Joke: I escalated this to the Appellate Team and got a Nodal Officer on the phone. I literally played the audio recording of their agent promising the auto-disconnection and zero-billing guarantee. His response? He completely refused to acknowledge the proof because the agent was speaking in Hindi, and he claimed he "doesn't understand Hindi." He refused to get a translator, talked over me, and dismissed the whole thing.

I’ve just sent my absolute final legal notice attached with all audio files and transcripts. If they don't refund my money and wipe the fraudulent bills, I'm taking all of this to the Consumer Court (NCDRC) and filing an FIR for corporate harassment.

TL;DR: Cancelled Airtel due to outages. They offered a free trial, promised it wouldn't bill me, secretly reactivated my account when the trial failed, and billed me anyway. When I played the audio proof to the Nodal Officer, he rejected it because he "doesn't speak Hindi."

Has anyone else dealt with this specific level of scamming from Airtel? Any advice for the Consumer Court filing would be appreciated!

I found an offline seller for a mini dell pc with the following specs and price, can anyone tell me if this is a good deal?

Dell Tiny

i5 9th gen

16gb DDR4 RAM.

256gb SSD with

Adapter

Price: 23k

My requirements:

1. have a 150Mbps fiber internet connection currently.

2. Already have onu , so need only a standalone router.

3. I have a pi to download torrents and stream movies to tv

4. should not lag with 10-12 devices.

5. Need parental controls to block specific websites (can be done with a pi as well ig)

6. 1200 sqft single floor apartment.

7. i would probably pair it with a gigabit switch.

I trying to get

a i3 8100

H310 motherboard

Ddr4 4gb ram will add one more later

My budget was 4500-5000

i got some deal like 3500 for cpu and motherboard

and 1500 for a 4gb ddr4 2400mhz

I have rest parts from my old pc (motherboard gone)

Is there any trustable stores and groups in facebook

Lets have a talk here

Hello All I am trying to build a NAS in this day and age, am aware of the ram and storage prices went through the roof but willing to dive into the refurb or enterprise grade used hdds and base 16gb ram system like old dells with ddr4s with i5. Problem is enterprise grade hdds and availability in the trusted refurb segment. Any guides suggestions for cheaper build specs will be helpful. Use case is only house hold device data storage with some redundancy so that dont have to pay google cloud or others.I am not data hoarder but occasional local 4k remux streaming will be good to have.

Presently my backsups are manually with couple of laptop ssds with external usb 3 case added to TP link archer C1200 router on SMB share.

Thanks in advance

i see raspberry pi for 5- 30k, why is everybody using them? you could get a more powerful pc for those prices, i got a dell T130 with 16 GB ddr4 ram and a 2 1tb hdds for 10k, why are people using them?