Since internet comes into my living room directly above my basement workspace, I drilled through the floor to run cables down and mounted a small network cabinet on the wall. Keeps everything out of the living room and gives me direct access for maintenance.

**What's in the cabinet:**

* **Synology DS923+** – the heart of it all
   * 10GbE direct connection to Mac Studio (via Synology E10G22-T1-Mini)
   * 2.5GbE to FRITZ!Box via expansion card
   * Dual 1GbE ports as redundancy
* **TP-Link 2.5GbE switch**
* **Various HomeKit bridges** (Hue, Eve, etc.)
* **Eve Room sensor** – temperature and humidity monitoring for the cabinet
* **Paulmann LED strip** – because if it's going to be visible, it might as well look good

**Cable management:** My ADHD brain made me label every single ethernet cable. Took forever, zero regrets. When something breaks at 2am, I know exactly what's what.

**The setup it serves:** Mac Studio + Pro Display XDR workstation for photography work (Lightroom Classic). The 10GbE direct connection to the NAS makes working with large RAW files feel local. Everything else in the house runs through the 2.5GbE path via the FRITZ!Box.

**Why it's in a basement:** I'm self-employed and spend most of my time down here anyway. Having the homelab literally next to my desk means quick diagnostics and no trips upstairs when something needs attention. The room also has acoustic treatment and ambient lighting, so it's become my favorite place to work.

Happy to answer questions about the setup or the Synology network configuration!

Small but mighty – my basement network cabinet with 10GbE direct to workstation