homelab

I made two NTP servers using Raspberry Pi single-board computers and GPS receivers.

The resulting NTP servers seem to work well.

A couple of years ago, I made an attempt to create a NTP server using a GPS receiver. I failed.

I tried again in 2025, this time I succeeded.

In January 2025, I started monitoring my network with Smokeping.

I had previously noticed increased latency when a Velop router was connected via powerline ethernet. After upgrading it to OpenWrt, I put that particular Velop back on my network via a $20 TP-Link 8 port 1GbE router. I saw a much smaller increase in latency using the router versus a direct cabled connection.

Matt Sayar investigated how often his home’s IP address changed. I did the same, inspired by him. Thanks, Matt!

While exploring how to configure multiple WiFi access points, routing IP subnets, WAP bridging and the consequences, I noticed that when I switched my laptop from one WiFi access point to another, the NTP configuration stayed the same.

I finally figured out how to get dhcpcd to set the NTP server for a given WiFi access point.

Install and configure LLDP on OpenWrt Linux

Converting my third and final Velop (Linksys WHW03 V1) to OpenWrt.

Previously:

• first conversion
• second conversion
• Radio config notes

A few months ago, I started monitoring my network with Smokeping, more about it later.

I’d also never bothered to check the speed of powerline ethernet. It “feels faster” than WiFi, so I was happy.

When I did my last Velop upgrade to OpenWrt, I did the physical manipulation at my home office desk using the powerline ethernet for various phases of the install.

Github is owned by Microsoft. They have embraced it. They could get a wild hair any old time, then extend and extinguish Github use by non-Windows machines.