Loading skill
Install any skill in seconds. Free to start, no credit card required.
Get Started Free →Practical home and homelab network planning for gateways, switches, access points, IP ranges, DHCP reservations, DNS, cabling, and common beginner mistakes.
.claude/skills/homelab-network-setup/SKILL.md| Test case | Without → With | Effect | Δ tokens | Δ turns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| case-03 | ✗→✓ | ▲ Improved | — | — |
| case-02 | ✗→✓ | ▲ Improved | — | — |
| case-06 | ✗→✓ | ▲ Improved | — | — |
| case-07 | ✗→✓ | ▲ Improved | — | — |
| case-23 | ✗→✗ | ＝ Same ✗ | — | — |
Use this skill to design a home or small-lab network that can grow without needing a full rebuild.
server addresses.
Start by separating device roles:
textInternet | Modem or ONT | Gateway or router NAT, firewall, DHCP, DNS, inter-VLAN routing | Managed switch wired clients, AP uplinks, optional VLAN trunks | Access points Wi-Fi only; ideally wired backhaul Servers and NAS stable addresses, DNS names, monitoring Clients and IoT DHCP pools, isolated later if VLANs are available
Pick a gateway that matches the operator, not just the feature checklist:
| Option | Best fit | Notes | | --- | --- | --- | | ISP router | Basic internet only | Limited control and often poor VLAN support | | UniFi gateway | Managed home network | Good UI, ecosystem lock-in | | OPNsense or pfSense | Flexible homelab | Strong VLAN, firewall, VPN, and DNS control | | MikroTik | Advanced network users | Powerful, but easy to misconfigure | | Linux router | Tinkerers | Document rollback before using as primary gateway |
Avoid the most common default, 192.168.1.0/24, when you expect to use VPNs. It often conflicts with hotels, offices, and ISP routers.
textExample small homelab plan: 192.168.10.0/24 trusted clients 192.168.20.0/24 IoT and media devices 192.168.30.0/24 servers and NAS 192.168.40.0/24 guest Wi-Fi 192.168.99.0/24 network management Gateway convention: .1 Infrastructure reservations: .2 through .49 Dynamic DHCP pool: .50 through .240 Spare room: .241 through .254
Use home.arpa for local names. It is reserved for home networks and avoids the leakage/conflict problems of ad hoc names like home.lan.
textnas.home.arpa pihole.home.arpa gateway.home.arpa switch-01.home.arpa
as a service.
DHCP DNS options at that address.
with dynamic leases.
Goal: Keep the ISP router but stabilize a small lab.
home.arpa.Goal: Prepare for future segmentation without enabling it immediately.
management.
192.168.1.0/24 when VPN access is planned.same trust boundary.
network-interface-healthnetwork-config-validation| Case | Status | Duration (ms) | Turns | Tokens | Tool calls | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Without | With | Δ | Without | With | Δ | Without | With | Δ | Without | With | Δ | ||
case-03 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-23 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-20 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-18 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-14 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-04 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-10 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-13 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-05 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-21 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-02 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-09 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-08 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-16 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-17 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-06 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-15 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-01 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-12 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-19 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-07 | fail→pass | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-11 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
case-22 | fail→fail | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
DecimalAI ran this skill against gemini-3.6-flash twice over the same eval suite — once with the skill loaded and once without — and compared the two runs case by case. 23 cases were attempted. The headline lift of +17 percentage points is the difference between those two pass rates over the 23 comparable cases.
The per-case answers from this run were removed by the retention sweep, so the case table below shows the verdicts without the text either arm produced. The counts above were recorded at the time and are unaffected. Answers are now kept for 180 days.
Other measured skills in the registry, with their headline benchmark lift.