Network In A Box Planning

January 14, 2026 · View on GitHub

A planning repository for developing a portable, easily transferable home network configuration.

Vision

Create a home network that can be packed up and moved to a new location with minimal reconfiguration. Swap out the WAN connection (new ISP, new gateway) and everything else just works.

Current Setup

Hardware

  • Router: Mini PC with 4x 2.5G NIC ports running Ubuntu Server 24.04
  • WAN1: Ethernet to ISP fiber gateway (Bezeq, Israel)
  • WAN2: 4G cellular failover via data SIM
  • Switching: 2.5G switch → Gigabit switch → PoE switch (gradually upgrading)
  • Wireless: Ubiquiti AP with dedicated 2.4GHz network for IoT
  • Smart Home: Zigbee devices, smart switches, Home Assistant integration

Software Stack

  • DHCP/DNS: dnsmasq with static IP management
  • Encrypted DNS: Cloudflare DoH
  • Firewall/IDS: CrowdSec
  • Failover: Custom scripting (more reliable than TP-Link ER605)
  • Remote Access: Cloudflare Tunnels + Tailscale
  • Ad Blocking: Configured at router level

Design Principles

  1. Simplicity over features - Rejected OPNsense/OpenWRT for being overkill; prefer minimal Linux configs
  2. Portability - Static IPs at device level, easy WAN swap
  3. Claude Code friendly - Ubuntu allows SSH-based AI-assisted administration
  4. Redundancy - Cellular failover ensures connectivity even during ISP outages

Goals & Roadmap

Backup Strategy

  • Image-level backups (LVM snapshots for quick recovery)
  • Version-controlled configs in this repository
  • Helper scripts for WAN migration

Recovery Mode

  • Dedicated cellular link for emergency access
  • Separate networking environment for troubleshooting
  • Tailscale/KVM fallback options

GUI Dashboard

  • VPN connect/disconnect toggle
  • Failover status and history
  • Connection uptime metrics

Potential Enhancements

  • Connection bonding (Speedify/SD-WAN) for instant failover
  • Always-on VPN (tested Mullvad with minimal speed penalty)
  • VLAN for IoT isolation

Challenge: Remote Remediation

The main unsolved problem: when network configs break, SSH access is lost. Solutions being explored:

  • Cellular link that bypasses main routing
  • Local agent (limited by hardware - needs cloud API with agentic capabilities)
  • Physical access fallback (KVM, direct console)

Repository Contents

  • planning.mp3 - Audio notes outlining project context
  • transcript-cleaned.md - Edited transcript with context
  • transcript-verbatim.md - Raw verbatim transcript

Background

After multiple apartment moves, each requiring painful network reconfiguration, the goal is to emulate how military or touring professionals handle portable network infrastructure - pack it up, plug it in somewhere new, and it just works.

Previous approaches (ISP router, OPNsense) proved either too limiting or too complex. The current Ubuntu-based approach hits the sweet spot: simple enough to maintain, powerful enough to customize, and compatible with modern AI-assisted administration.