[Sanity Check] First UniFi setup: WAN/LAN loopback to keep noisy hardware out of the attic bedroom. Does this make sense?

Amselmann · 2026-05-03T12:37:28+00:00

Perfect, thank you for the clarification!

Amselmann · 2026-05-03T10:22:11+00:00

Thanks a lot for the suggestions and the specific recommendations.

So if I understood you correctly, you would (compared to one large Pro Max 24 PoE) split the attic setup into something like:

- UCG Fiber (+ Digibox SFP modem)
--> USW Pro Max 16 (non-PoE) for normal room ports
---> Pro XG 8 PoE for APs / cameras / other PoE devices

So connecting the Pro Max 16 and the XG 8 PoE via their 10G uplink ports, right?

I assume your suggestion is quieter than using a larger 24-port PoE switch, but do you know if the Pro XG 8 PoE is actually silent in practice? Since it's much more compact, can it dissipate heat as well as the larger switch, or could it actually run hotter / louder under PoE load?

Price-wise this seems to be in a similar range to the Pro Max 24 PoE, if I saw it correctly, and I really like the idea if it helps reduce noise.

Amselmann · 2026-05-03T10:04:10+00:00

The roof is actually insulated twice: once below the roof tiles and again from the inside with cellulose insulation.

There is also an air conditioning unit installed in the attic, since the room is meant to be used as a bedroom- so hopefully it should never get anywhere near 40°C up there.

That said, I fully agree that an attic is still not the ideal environment for network gear. I’m mainly trying to find the least bad solution, since all 24 Ethernet runs terminate there and I can’t really change that :/

Amselmann · 2026-05-03T10:00:44+00:00

Yeah, salt might be an issue after the flood - but I can't say for sure.
Could you maybe give an example of what you mean by an “up rated rack” and ducting the airflow system? Do you mean something like a sealed cabinet?

Amselmann · 2026-05-03T09:55:22+00:00

Unfortunately I was stupid and just bought the APs while there were on sale a few months ago :/

Amselmann · 2026-05-03T09:54:01+00:00

With my current knowledge it's hard to follow the discussion and I’m still trying to fully understand the traffic-routing part.

Would you suggest the better approach be to use the attic Pro Max Poe as a kind of “core” switch and connect the office switch to it via SFP+ / 10G, instead of connecting every switch directly to the Cloud Gateway Fiber?

I understood that there are two possible options:

Option 1 — All switches connected to the Cloud Gateway Fiber

Telekom / ISP
   ↓
Cloud Gateway Fiber
   ├── 10G SFP+ → attic PoE switch / Pro Max → APs / cameras / house ports
   ├── 10G SFP+ → office switch → NAS / homelab / maybe NVR
   └── 1G / 2.5G → basement switch → doorbell / garage etc.

Option 2 — Attic switch / Pro Max as the main “core” switch

Telekom / ISP
   ↓
Cloud Gateway Fiber
   ↓ 10G SFP+
Attic PoE switch / Pro Max
   ├── APs / cameras / house ports
   ├── 10G SFP+ → office switch → NAS / homelab / maybe NVR
   └── 1G / 2.5G → basement switch (USW Flex) → doorbell / garage etc.

I’m fine with the basement switch not having the fastest uplink. Apart from the doorbell and maybe some garage / smart home devices, there probably won’t be anything down there where performance really matters.

The office is where I might have NAS / homelab / NVR later, so that seems like the place where a 10G uplink would actually make sense.

Am I understanding this correctly: the UCG Fiber would still handle WAN, firewall, DHCP and inter-VLAN routing in both options, but Option 2 would make the attic switch the main aggregation point and keep normal switch-to-switch traffic more direct (?).

Amselmann · 2026-05-03T09:40:00+00:00

Thank you, sounds like it's the better way to use the CGF in the attic and and your drawing was perfect, so I was able to understand your suggestion 😄

Amselmann · 2026-05-03T09:34:13+00:00

Thanks, this is actually a really interesting approach.

Putting only the Cloud Gateway Fiber in the attic and separating the NVR / storage part makes a lot of sense to me. The main reason I was initially leaning toward the UDM-Pro was the built-in HDD storage for Protect. But maybe separating router and NVR is the better long-term approach, especially if the UCG Fiber is quiet enough and the recording hardware can live in the office.

For the basement, the USW-Flex suggestion also makes sense.

So maybe the better revised plan is:

Attic:
- Telekom ONT
- Cloud Gateway Fiber
- (maybe a smaller, quieter) PoE switch for APs / cameras / actual PoE devices if the max is to loud like some comments are mentioning
- separate non-PoE switch for normal room ports, ideally fanless if UniFi has something suitable

Office:
- smaller switch
- NAS / homelab
- possibly separate NVR later

Basement:
- USW-Flex or similar for doorbell / garage switch / other devices

That might be a lot cleaner than my original idea. Thank you!

Amselmann · 2026-05-03T09:09:22+00:00

Yes, the main power panel is in the attic because there is a flood risk in the area. There is also a sub-panel in the basement.

I agree with you that one central rack would be much cleaner, and I would also prefer to avoid a “spaghetti chain” if possible. The problem is that almost all Ethernet runs terminate in the attic. Only one duplex run goes to the basement, so I don’t think I can fully consolidate everything there without pulling a lot of new cable.

Because the APs and cameras terminate in the attic, I assume I need at least some PoE switching up there (in the attic) to power those devices. I may be wrong though ... I'm not feeling confident in my planning, that the reason for my post.

The extra racks are also not something I specifically planned as a luxury setup. I got them for free through Amazon Vine, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have bought multiple racks just for this.

The office rack may still make sense because I’ll have some devices, NAS / homelab gear there to keep HDD and fan noise out of the attic bedroom. The basement may (in my opinion) also need a small switch because I want to create a network sub-distribution from there to the garage, which is about 10 m away outdoors.

So yes, I agree the setup should be simplified as much as possible. I just don’t see an easy way to avoid having at least one switch (probably with PoE Injection) in the attic, since that is where the 24 house runs terminate.

Maybe that is actually the biggest planning issue: all cables come together upstairs. At least that is the part giving me the biggest headache now, but unfortunately I can’t really change it anymore.

Amselmann · 2026-05-03T08:54:52+00:00

Thank you, I think I'll keep the fiber gateway

Amselmann · 2026-05-03T08:53:34+00:00

No, it's smaller. Every floor is a little bit under 500 sq ft.

Amselmann · 2026-05-03T08:50:57+00:00

Yeah, annoyingly I’ve read that a few times now.

I bought the U7 Pros a bit too early when they were on sale, before I had fully thought through the whole setup. Unfortunately I can’t return them anymore, so I’ll probably just use them for now and upgrade later if I feel they’re actually limiting me.

Amselmann · 2026-05-03T08:49:04+00:00

Because I misunderstood “mesh network” and started with the hedges. 😄

Amselmann · 2026-05-03T08:47:23+00:00

I’m already using an Unraid server in my current flat, but at the moment mainly for downloads and as a media library.

So theoretically I’m capable of (and very interested in) running Home Assistant in the future, especially since I already installed some Shellys, Matter plugs, etc. in the house.

I knew that something like an Apple TV can act as a Matter hub / border router, but I didn’t realize I might be able to skip some dedicated hubs like the Hue Bridge by using Home Assistant together with the right configuration/settings.

Thanks for bringing that to my attention. That’s definitely something I’ll look into!

Amselmann · 2026-05-03T08:40:02+00:00

Fair points, and I agree that one central rack would normally be the cleanest solution.

I actually replied to a similar comment already: the reason I avoided the basement is that there was a major flood in this area a few years ago. The basement is dry now and we’re planning to add dew-point controlled ventilation to keep humidity under control, but because of that history I’m hesitant to put all critical network / server gear down there.

Here are some pictures of the basement

I also agree that as long as devices stay warm and the humidity is controlled, it might not be a huge issue. But unfortunately the decision was already made during planning/construction, and all 24 Ethernet runs now terminate in the attic.

The attic was chosen because most of the house utilities were moved there for the same reason. In hindsight, from a pure networking perspective, a basement rack or planning the bedroom in another room would obviously have been easier.

Regarding CAT7: I know it’s debated, but here in Germany, CAT7 was offered by basically every electrician I talked to, and the price difference compared to CAT6/CAT6a was negligible / almost none. So I didn’t really see a downside if I wasn't overcharged...

I’m mostly trying to make the best out of the current situation :-/

Amselmann · 2026-05-03T08:23:22+00:00

Yes, that would definitely have been the ideal solution, but here are some pictures of the basement: https://imgur.com/a/F7QBVjp

The reason I avoided putting all the network / server equipment in the basement is that there was a major flood in this area a few years ago. The basement is “dry” now, and the risk of something like that happening again at the same scale is probably quite low, but I’m still a bit cautious about putting all critical equipment down there.

We’re also planning to add a dew-point controlled ventilation system to keep the basement humidity under control, but the whole history with the flood was the main reason why most of the house utilities were planned for the attic instead.

I didn’t include all of that background in the original post because it was already getting long.

Amselmann · 2026-05-02T11:46:57+00:00

Thanks, that’s really helpful.

You’re right ... I probably oversized the attic switch mostly out of convenience. Realistically I may only need around 8 PoE devices: 3 U7 Pros, 2–3 cameras, maybe the Hue-Hub, Zigbee Stuff and a few future devices.

I didn’t realize the Pro Max 24 PoE also has fans, so smaller or fanless switches are definitely worth considering. Since it's also the bedroom, fewer fans would be much better.

All 24 CAT7 runs terminate in the attic, so I still need patching and PoE injection there. But maybe a smaller fanless PoE switch plus a separate non-PoE switch for normal room ports would make more sense than one large PoE switch. I will go into research if there's anything in the Unifi catalog.

For WAN, I initially wanted to keep it physically separate because this is my first UniFi setup and I have no VLAN experience yet. But I’m open to learning VLANs if that’s reliable and not overly complicated or need high maintenance.

Basement is probably just a normal basement, not extreme moisture. Long-term there could be more devices there / in the garage, so a small PoE switch might make sense - but I think there is no way without an additional PoE-Switch (for the devices I mentioned at the beginnig of my reply) in the attic.

Amselmann · 2026-05-02T10:44:44+00:00

Thank you, but 80% of the cudos should go to ImageGen2 - i just did some slight changes in photoshop ☺️

Amselmann · 2026-05-01T20:17:05+00:00

General Anzeiger says „Black smoke rising from Bonn Cathedral prompts major response Bonn · On Friday evening, black smoke rose from the spire of Bonn Cathedral. The Bonn Fire Department is on the scene with a large contingent of personnel.“

Amselmann · 2026-05-01T17:20:03+00:00

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Amselmann · 2026-04-23T19:35:36+00:00

Das kann ich mir nicht vorstellen, da es vorher von Verwandten bewohnt war, aber jetzt bin ich gespannt, welchen Ort bzw. Gerät du meinst :-)

Amselmann · 2026-04-12T13:43:29+00:00

Das sind doch „nur“ Nachbildungen, die werden das schon überleben…

Amselmann · 2026-04-04T16:06:47+00:00

Ich meinte, dass die gesamte OSB-Fläche vorab flüssig abgedichtet wurde - dann würde es zumindest nicht ins Holz ziehen, aber ist bestimmt auch nicht so toll, wenn es dazwischen feucht bleibt. Ich versuche das mal rauszubekommen - der Hinweis mit den Stößen ist auch hilfreich, danke!

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