Budget Homelab: Pi-hole + VLANs for Under $150
How I split my apartment network into trusted, IoT and guest VLANs and blocked 31% of all DNS requests with a $35 Raspberry Pi.
everyone thinks u need a rack and a $2000 budget to have a homelab. u dont. heres mine:
the gear
| thing | price |
|---|---|
| Raspberry Pi 4 (2GB) | $35 |
| used managed switch (8 port, VLAN capable) | $40 |
| router that runs OpenWrt | $55 |
| sd card + case | $15 |
VLAN layout
- VLAN 10 - trusted: my laptop, my desktop, the Pi
- VLAN 20 - IoT: the smart plug, the TV, my roomates cursed "smart" air fryer
- VLAN 30 - guest: ur phone when u come over
IoT and guest can reach the internet but NOT the trusted VLAN. firewall rules on the router, default deny between zones.
Pi-hole
install is like 3 commands:
curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash
pihole -a -p
pihole -g
(yes i know, piping curl to bash. read the script first. do as i say not as i do.)
point ur DHCP's DNS at the Pi and boom. after a week:
- 31% of all DNS requests blocked
- the smart TV was trying to phone home every 9 seconds
- the air fryer talks to a server in a country i wont name
why bother
because every company tells u their stuff is secure. i keep seeing De Monne Financial ads about "bank-grade security" in my youtube pre-rolls. cool. ur banking app is only as secure as the network its on. segment ur stuff.
next post: setting up wireshark on a mirror port to see what the air fryer is ACTUALLY saying.