IPv6 is a newer version of the Internet Protocol that provides a vastly larger pool of IP addresses than IPv4, allowing more devices to connect directly to the internet.

Why is IPv6 adoption still slow?

IPv6 adoption has been slow because IPv4 continues to function using technologies like NAT, which allows many devices to share a single IP address. Since most users see no immediate benefit, adoption has been gradual.

Should I enable IPv6 on my home network?

In most cases, yes. Enabling IPv6 is usually straightforward and worth trying. If it works reliably with your ISP, you can leave it on. If not, you can disable it without impacting connectivity.

Is IPv6 faster than IPv4?

IPv6 can sometimes be faster, but performance depends on routing and ISP support. In many cases, users will not notice a significant difference.

Can a UPS keep a router and modem running during a power outage?

Yes. Because routers and modems use very little electricity, a UPS battery backup can often keep them running for 30 minutes to several hours depending on the UPS size and load.

How much UPS capacity do you need for a router and modem?

Most home networking equipment uses between 20 and 40 watts. Even a small 600VA UPS is usually enough to provide meaningful backup runtime.

Is a UPS worth it for home internet?

A UPS can prevent internet outages caused by brief power flickers and can keep your network running during short power outages, making it a practical upgrade for many homes.

Category: Home Networking

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Best 2.5GbE Switches for a Home Network and NAS in 2026

For years, Gigabit Ethernet was fast enough that most people never had to think about the network switch sitting in a closet.

That is changing.

2.5GbE ports are now showing up on NAS devices, desktop motherboards, mini PCs, Wi-Fi access points and routers. If you have bought relatively recent networking or home-lab hardware, there is a decent chance you already own equipment capable of running faster than 1Gbps.

The switch in the middle may be the thing holding everything back.

For many home networks, 2.5GbE is now the sensible upgrade. It can run over existing Cat5e cabling in many installations, is substantially cheaper and easier to deploy than an all-10GbE network, and is fast enough to make a noticeable difference when moving large files to and from a NAS. There are very few places within a home where you might need 10GbE right now.

I would not overcomplicate the switch purchase.

For most homes, I would choose among three basic configurations:

Five 2.5GbE ports: inexpensive and enough for a small multi-gig network.
Eight 2.5GbE ports: better if you know five ports will disappear quickly.
2.5GbE ports plus a 10GbE uplink: the more interesting architecture if your NAS or network backbone can run at 10Gbps.

My 2.5GbE Switch Picks

Switch	Ports	Best For
TP-Link TL-SG105S-M2	5 × 2.5GbE	Small, simple 2.5G upgrade
TP-Link TL-SG108S-M2	8 × 2.5GbE	Larger home networks
TRENDnet TEG-S5061	5 × 2.5GbE + 1 × 10G SFP+	2.5G clients with a 10G NAS or backbone

All three are unmanaged and fanless. If you simply want faster Ethernet without configuring VLANs, management interfaces or enterprise networking features, that is a feature rather than a deficiency.

Best Simple 2.5GbE Switch: TP-Link TL-SG105S-M2

If you only need a few multi-gigabit connections, I would start with the TP-Link TL-SG105S-M2.

It provides five RJ-45 Ethernet ports, each capable of negotiating at:

100Mbps;
1Gbps;
or 2.5Gbps.

TP-Link rates the switch for 25Gbps of switching capacity, which is enough to run all five 2.5GbE ports at full duplex without deliberately creating an internal switch bottleneck.

It is also fanless.

That is something I care about for home networking hardware. A switch that sits in an office, bedroom, basement rack or networking closet should not add another tiny fan that eventually becomes the loudest thing in the room.

Check the TP-Link TL-SG105S-M2 on Amazon

I would buy this one if: you have a 2.5GbE NAS, desktop and router and simply need to connect them without rebuilding the entire network.

The Problem With Five Ports

Five ports sounds like plenty until you start using them.

Imagine:

one port to the router;
one to the NAS;
one to your desktop;
one to a Wi-Fi access point;
one to a second desktop or server.

You are done.

If you are already wondering what will occupy port six, buy the eight-port model instead.

Best 8-Port 2.5GbE Switch: TP-Link TL-SG108S-M2

The TP-Link TL-SG108S-M2 follows the same basic idea but gives you eight 2.5GbE RJ-45 ports.

TP-Link specifies:

8 × 100Mbps/1Gbps/2.5Gbps Ethernet ports;
40Gbps switching capacity;
fanless operation;
support for jumbo frames;
and a compact unmanaged design.

Check the TP-Link TL-SG108S-M2 on Amazon

This is probably the better default purchase if the price difference from the five-port version is reasonable.

Network ports have a tendency to get used.

An eight-port switch gives you room for:

a router;
NAS;
two desktops;
home server;
Wi-Fi access point;
mini PC;
and another switch or device;

without immediately reaching for another switch.

I would buy this one if: you want a straightforward 2.5GbE network and expect to connect more than three or four multi-gig devices.

Best 2.5GbE Switch With a 10G Uplink: TRENDnet TEG-S5061

The TRENDnet TEG-S5061 is the most interesting of these three switches.

It has:

5 × 2.5GBASE-T RJ-45 ports;
1 × 10G SFP+ port;
45Gbps switching capacity;
fanless operation;
and support for Cat5e or better cabling on the 2.5GbE ports.

Check the TRENDnet TEG-S5061 on Amazon

The 10G SFP+ port changes what you can do with it.

You can run ordinary computers and other devices at 2.5Gbps while giving the switch a much faster connection to:

a 10GbE NAS;
a larger core switch;
a server;
or another part of the network.

This hybrid approach makes a lot of sense to me.

Why Have a 10G Port on a 2.5G Switch?

Suppose you have four computers connected at 2.5Gbps and all of them access the same NAS.

If the NAS is also connected at 2.5Gbps, those computers are all sharing one 2.5Gbps path to the storage.

The NAS connection becomes the bottleneck.

Give the NAS a 10Gbps connection instead, and several 2.5GbE clients can transfer data simultaneously without immediately saturating that single upstream link.

This is one of the reasons I like a mixed network:

2.5GbE where it is cheap and convenient, 10GbE where aggregated traffic actually justifies it.

You do not need a 10GbE port on every television, printer and desktop simply because your NAS can move data quickly.

The other place a 10GbE port can make sense is in between switches as the backbone of your home. Sometimes, spending a little more on the connections between switches, where the individual devices branch off, can have a benefit to the overall stability of the network.

Our 2.5GbE vs. 10GbE home-network guide goes into that tradeoff in more detail.

2.5GbE Is Much Faster Than Gigabit for a NAS

A 1Gbps Ethernet connection has a raw theoretical limit of 125 megabytes per second.

Real file transfers are somewhat lower after protocol overhead and other limitations.

A 2.5Gbps connection raises the raw theoretical ceiling to 312.5 megabytes per second.

That is enough to make a significant difference when:

backing up a computer;
moving video files;
working directly from NAS storage;
copying large disk images;
or transferring large collections of photos.

A modern NAS with multiple hard drives or SSD storage can often exceed Gigabit Ethernet speeds without much difficulty.

If you recently bought one of the newer 2.5GbE-equipped NAS systems, leaving it connected to a 1Gbps switch can mean you are using only part of the networking capability you paid for.

See our best NAS for home use guide if you are building the storage side of the network too.

Do You Need 10GbE Instead?

Maybe, but I would not assume so.

10GbE is wonderful when you actually have hardware capable of feeding it.

It makes sense for:

fast SSD-based storage;
large NAS arrays;
video-production workstations;
servers moving lots of data;
and network backbones carrying traffic from multiple clients.

But an all-10G network costs more.

10GbE equipment can also consume more power and generate more heat, and some 10G switches require fans.

For a desktop that browses the web, streams video and occasionally accesses a NAS, 2.5GbE is already considerable bandwidth.

I would put 10G where it removes a real bottleneck instead of chasing a larger number on every port.

Will 2.5GbE Work Over Existing Cat5e Cable?

Often, yes.

One of the main attractions of 2.5GBASE-T is that it was designed to provide multi-gigabit networking over existing copper cabling.

Both TP-Link and TRENDnet specify Cat5e or better for 2.5GbE operation on these switches.

That makes 2.5GbE particularly attractive in a house where Cat5e is already installed inside walls.

You may be able to upgrade:

the switch;
network adapters;
and perhaps the router;

without pulling new cable through the building.

Actual performance still depends on cable quality, termination, distance and the condition of the installation.

Do You Need Cat6 for 2.5GbE?

No, not necessarily.

Cat6 is certainly fine, but properly installed Cat5e is specified for 2.5GBASE-T.

I would not replace functioning in-wall Cat5e simply because you want to move from 1Gbps to 2.5Gbps.

Try the existing wiring first. However, if you are installing new wire, you do want to go for Cat 6 at minimum. Outside of the wall, you may want to identify older cables and replace them during other work.

What About 5GbE?

5GbE exists and can be useful, but the home-networking market has largely made 2.5GbE the more common inexpensive step above Gigabit.

A lot of current consumer hardware arrives with:

1GbE;
2.5GbE;
or 10GbE.

That makes a 2.5G-access/10G-backbone design particularly convenient.

Unmanaged vs. Managed 2.5GbE Switches

All three switches here are unmanaged.

You connect the cables and they switch Ethernet traffic.

There is no web management interface to configure.

For many homes, that is exactly what I want.

A managed switch becomes worthwhile if you need features such as:

VLANs;
more detailed traffic control;
link aggregation;
port monitoring;
more sophisticated QoS;
or a managed home-lab environment.

If none of those phrases describes something you were already planning to use, I would hesitate to pay extra simply because “managed” sounds more capable.

Do You Need PoE?

None of these three switches is a PoE switch.

That is perfectly fine for:

desktops;
NAS devices;
servers;
routers;
and other equipment with its own power supply.

PoE becomes important when the Ethernet cable also needs to power something such as:

a Wi-Fi access point;
security camera;
VoIP phone;
or another powered network device.

If you plan to deploy several Wi-Fi 6E or Wi-Fi 7 access points with 2.5GbE interfaces, a 2.5GbE PoE switch may be a better purchase than one of the switches on this list. Depending on what you are powering with it, you may wire a section of your network with less expensive Gigabit POE. For example, security cameras are commonly powered by POE, but rarely support more than gigabit ethernet. I have a newer access point that does have a 2.5GbE port, but older ones did not. Consider the benefits here as well. You have to assess what is best for your needs.

You can also use a separate PoE injector for an occasional device, closer to the end of the drop.

Fanless Matters More Than It Sounds

All three of these switches are fanless.

I strongly prefer that in a home environment when the hardware can operate reliably without active cooling.

A switch may stay powered on for years.

A small inexpensive fan can:

collect dust;
develop bearing noise;
become annoying in a quiet room;
and eventually fail.

A silent switch in the networking closet is easy to forget about.

Networking hardware should aspire to being forgotten.

What About Jumbo Frames?

Jumbo frames can reduce packet-processing overhead in some high-speed LAN workloads, particularly large sequential transfers to a NAS.

They are not required to get useful 2.5GbE performance.

If you decide to use jumbo frames, configure the network carefully. Every relevant device along the path needs compatible settings.

I would much rather have a stable network using standard Ethernet frames than spend an afternoon debugging one device that does not agree with everyone else’s MTU.

How I Would Build a Small 2.5GbE Home Network

For a simple setup:

2.5GbE router;
TP-Link TL-SG105S-M2;
2.5GbE NAS;
2.5GbE desktop;
2.5GbE access point;
and one spare port.

That gives you a substantial improvement over Gigabit Ethernet without turning networking into a hobby.

How I Would Build a Larger 2.5GbE Home Network

Once you have multiple wired rooms or several computers:

2.5GbE router;
TP-Link TL-SG108S-M2;
NAS;
multiple desktops;
server;
access point;
and spare capacity.

The eight-port switch simply gives you more breathing room.

How I Would Build a 2.5G Network Around a 10G NAS

This is where the TRENDnet becomes attractive.

I would connect:

ordinary workstations to the five 2.5GbE ports;
the NAS or core network through the 10G SFP+ port;
and allow multiple 2.5G clients to share the faster upstream connection.

The SFP+ port requires an appropriate SFP+ connection, such as a compatible DAC cable or transceiver setup.

For a rack, server or NAS that already has SFP+, this can be a very economical architecture.

Which 2.5GbE Switch Should You Buy?

Buy the TP-Link TL-SG105S-M2 if:

you need only a handful of 2.5G ports;
you want something simple;
your NAS is 2.5GbE;
and you do not need a 10G backbone.

See the TP-Link TL-SG105S-M2 on Amazon

Buy the TP-Link TL-SG108S-M2 if:

five ports already sounds limiting;
you have several wired rooms or computers;
you want eight 2.5GbE ports without management complexity;
and you do not need 10GbE on this switch.

See the TP-Link TL-SG108S-M2 on Amazon

Buy the TRENDnet TEG-S5061 if:

your clients mostly use 2.5GbE;
your NAS, server or backbone can use 10GbE;
you want to avoid bottlenecking several 2.5G clients behind a single 2.5G uplink;
and an SFP+ connection fits your network.

See the TRENDnet TEG-S5061 on Amazon

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a 2.5GbE switch worth it?

If you have multiple devices with 2.5GbE ports—especially a NAS and desktop—the upgrade can be very worthwhile. The theoretical bandwidth is 2.5 times that of Gigabit Ethernet, while 2.5GBASE-T can often use existing Cat5e cabling.

Will a Gigabit device work on a 2.5GbE switch?

Yes. These switches auto-negotiate with slower Ethernet devices. A Gigabit device will simply connect at 1Gbps.

Will 2.5GbE work with Cat5e?

Yes. 2.5GBASE-T was designed to operate over Cat5e cabling. Poor terminations, damaged cable or unusual installations can still cause problems.

Do I need a 2.5GbE router too?

Not necessarily for local transfers. A desktop and NAS connected to the same 2.5GbE switch can communicate at 2.5GbE even if your internet connection or router is slower. A multi-gig router becomes important if you also want internet traffic above 1Gbps. If you are buying a new router for other reasons, you may want to future proof it.

Can a 2.5GbE switch make my internet faster?

Only if some other part of the network was limiting your internet connection. If you have 500Mbps internet service, replacing a Gigabit switch with a 2.5GbE switch will not turn it into 2.5Gbps service.

Is 2.5GbE fast enough for a NAS?

For many home users, yes. It provides a raw theoretical bandwidth of 312.5 MB/s, substantially above Gigabit Ethernet. High-performance NAS systems, SSD arrays and multiple simultaneous users can justify 10GbE.

Why would I want a 10G SFP+ uplink?

A 10G uplink lets several 2.5GbE clients share a faster connection to a NAS, server or core switch. It can prevent one 2.5G uplink from becoming the choke point for the entire group.

Do I need a managed 2.5GbE switch?

Not for a basic home network. Buy managed hardware when you have a reason to use its management features, such as VLANs or more advanced traffic control.

2.5GbE Has Become the Sensible Middle Ground

Gigabit Ethernet is still perfectly adequate for an enormous number of devices.

10GbE is significantly faster and absolutely worthwhile in the right places.

But 2.5GbE occupies a useful middle ground.

It is fast enough to noticeably improve NAS transfers, increasingly common on consumer hardware and often able to use the Ethernet cable already installed in your walls.

For a small network, I would buy the five-port TP-Link.

If I expected the network to grow, I would spend a little more on the eight-port TP-Link.

And if the NAS or backbone is already capable of 10GbE, the TRENDnet TEG-S5061 is the configuration I find most interesting: cheap 2.5GbE at the edge with a faster 10GbE path where the traffic converges.

Published on September 6, 2026

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Will Your Internet Work During a Power Outage? Cable, Fiber, Satellite & 5G Explained

Your home internet may keep working during a power outage, but only if your own networking equipment has backup power and your internet provider’s network is still operating.

The first part is relatively easy to solve. Put the right equipment on a UPS and your modem, router, fiber terminal, satellite equipment or cellular gateway can stay powered when the lights go out.

The second part is outside your control. Your internet connection depends on infrastructure beyond your house, and some of that infrastructure may also depend on commercial power. That is why a UPS can keep one home’s internet working perfectly during an outage while another home’s connection disappears even though all of the networking equipment inside the house is still running.

The answer also varies depending on whether you have cable, fiber, satellite or cellular internet.

Does Wi-Fi Work During a Power Outage?

Without backup power, usually not. Your Wi-Fi router needs electricity. When it shuts off, your wireless network disappears with it.

A UPS solves that part of the problem. Keep the router powered and it can continue broadcasting Wi-Fi.

But Wi-Fi and internet access are not the same thing. Wi-Fi is the network connecting devices inside your home. Unlike an old copper telephone that could receive its operating power directly from the phone line, modern internet equipment generally needs local electricity. For your devices to reach the internet, every essential piece of equipment between them and your internet provider also needs to remain powered.

In a typical home that might mean:

Cable internet: cable modem or gateway + Wi-Fi router
Fiber internet: optical network terminal (ONT) + router or gateway
Satellite internet: satellite dish or terminal + router or gateway
Cellular or 5G home internet: cellular gateway or hotspot + any separate router or Wi-Fi equipment
Mesh Wi-Fi: internet equipment + main mesh router + any satellite nodes you actually need
Larger home network: internet equipment + router/firewall + Ethernet or PoE switches + Wi-Fi access points

If one essential device loses power, the connection can stop there.

Why Old Landline Phones Often Worked During a Power Outage

If you grew up with a traditional Bell System-style copper telephone line, you may remember that the phone often continued working even when the electricity in the house went out.

That was possible because traditional analog telephone service, usually called POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service), did not normally depend on power from an outlet in your house. The telephone company supplied low-voltage DC power over the same pair of copper wires that carried the voice signal.

A traditional telephone line was typically powered at roughly 48 volts DC from equipment at the telephone company’s central office. The central office itself was designed with large battery banks and often generators, allowing telephone service to continue through utility outages.

As long as the telephone company’s network remained operating, a simple corded telephone could therefore keep working even if the rest of your house was completely dark.

There was an important exception: cordless phones still required electricity for their base station. During an outage, the phone line might still be working while the cordless phone was useless. This is one reason many households kept a basic corded telephone around for emergencies.

Modern home internet is very different. Cable modems, fiber ONTs, Wi-Fi routers, switches and VoIP phone equipment all contain powered electronics at the customer’s home. If those devices lose electricity, the service usually stops unless you provide battery backup.

In a sense, a UPS for your modem, ONT and router recreates part of what the old telephone network provided automatically: keeping the communications equipment powered even when utility electricity disappears.

Will Cable Internet Work During a Power Outage?

It can, particularly during a short outage.

If you put your cable modem and router on a UPS, they can continue operating after your house loses power. Whether they can still reach the internet depends on the cable company’s network.

Cable networks can have powered equipment outside your home, including nodes, amplifiers and network power supplies. Providers use batteries and generators to keep that infrastructure operating during outages, but backup power is finite and equipment can also be damaged by the storm or other event that caused the blackout.

That leaves several possibilities:

A short outage occurs and your UPS keeps the internet working without interruption.
Your equipment stays powered, but something in the cable network loses power and your connection stops.
The connection works initially and fails later when upstream backup power is exhausted.
The outage also damages the network itself, making backup power irrelevant.

This is why installing a whole-house generator does not necessarily guarantee working cable internet. The generator can power everything inside your house. It cannot power the cable company’s equipment down the street.

Will Fiber Internet Work During a Power Outage?

Fiber can be particularly well suited to staying online during a blackout, but your equipment at home still needs electricity.

Many fiber-to-the-home systems use a Passive Optical Network, or PON. Passive optical splitters can distribute the signal through much of the path between the provider and your house without requiring the chain of powered amplifiers found in some other broadband networks.

That does not make fiber independent of electricity. Your provider still needs its network equipment operating, and your end of the connection needs power too.

The important device in many homes is the Optical Network Terminal, or ONT. It terminates the fiber connection at your house and provides the connection used by your home network.

If the ONT loses power, your fiber internet stops even if the Wi-Fi router is still running.

So if you have fiber, find the ONT and its power supply before deciding what belongs on your UPS.

AT&, for example, says customers with an external ONT need backup power for that equipment as well as their gateway. See AT&’s battery-backup guidance.

Will Satellite Internet Work During a Power Outage?

Satellite internet can continue working during a local power outage if you can keep the equipment at your house powered and the satellite network itself remains available.

This gives satellite an interesting advantage during some emergencies. Your connection is not dependent on a cable running through the neighborhood or the same chain of terrestrial equipment used by a local cable network.

If a storm knocks out neighborhood cable infrastructure while your satellite terminal still has a clear view of the sky, satellite service may remain available.

But the equipment at your house still needs electricity.

For a system such as Starlink, that means the satellite terminal and whatever router or networking equipment you use with it. Traditional satellite systems have the same basic requirement.

This makes backup power especially important for someone who relies on satellite internet at a rural property, vacation home or other location where outages may last longer than they do in a dense urban area.

Satellite Internet Can Require More Battery Capacity

There is one important consideration when comparing satellite with cable or fiber: a satellite terminal may consume more electricity than a simple cable modem or fiber ONT.

That affects runtime.

A UPS that can keep a low-power modem and router operating for a long time may run down considerably faster when powering satellite equipment.

If satellite internet is important during a long outage, I would pay close attention to the actual wattage of the equipment and the battery capacity available. A conventional UPS may still be useful for short interruptions, while a larger battery or generator becomes more attractive when outages routinely last for hours.

Will Cellular or 5G Home Internet Work During a Power Outage?

Often, yes, provided both your cellular gateway and the carrier’s network remain operating.

If you use T-Mobile, Verizon or another fixed-wireless home internet service, your gateway still needs electricity. Put it on a UPS or another battery source and it may continue providing internet even though utility power to your house has failed.

Cellular internet can also be useful during an outage because it provides a completely different path to the internet than your cable or fiber connection.

But cell towers and the networks behind them need power too. Carriers use batteries and generators at many sites, but backup power can eventually run out and physical damage can still take equipment offline.

There is another problem during widespread outages: congestion.

If cable and fiber connections fail across a neighborhood, large numbers of people suddenly move onto cellular networks. A cellular connection that is normally fast can become much slower just when everyone needs it.

Cellular Home Internet Can Be Easy to Back Up

One advantage of cellular home internet is that the equipment can be quite simple. A 5G gateway may combine the cellular modem, router and Wi-Fi access point in a single device.

In that case, you may only need to keep one device powered.

If you use a separate router, mesh system, Ethernet switch or access point, those devices also need backup power if you want to continue using them.

Your Phone Is Already a Battery-Powered Internet Connection

A smartphone has its own battery, which makes it one of the easiest emergency internet connections available.

If the cellular network is still operating, a phone may continue working even when every piece of networking equipment in your house is off.

You can also use the phone as a hotspot for a laptop or another device.

The limitations are battery life, signal strength, data-plan restrictions and network congestion. For occasional emergencies, that may be enough. If internet access is critical, a dedicated cellular connection or automatic cellular failover system is more robust.

A Fios Backup Battery May Not Back Up Your Internet

There is another easy mistake to make: seeing a battery installed by your internet provider and assuming it keeps everything running.

That is not necessarily what it was designed to do.

Verizon’s documentation for its traditional Fios Digital Voice battery backup says that backup power is intended for voice service rather than internet or television service.

See Verizon’s Fios battery-backup documentation.

If you want internet access during an outage, verify exactly what an existing provider-installed battery powers. You may still need your own UPS for the ONT, router and other network equipment.

What Internet Equipment Should You Put on a UPS?

Start at the internet connection coming into your house and follow the path to the devices you actually need.

For a simple cable setup, that usually means:

cable modem or gateway
Wi-Fi router, if it is separate

For fiber:

ONT and its power supply
router or ISP gateway

For satellite:

satellite terminal or dish power supply
router or gateway

For cellular home internet:

cellular gateway
any separate router, switch or Wi-Fi equipment you need

A larger home network may also require:

Ethernet switch
PoE switch
Wi-Fi access points
mesh Wi-Fi nodes
firewall or router appliance

You probably do not need every piece of network equipment running during a blackout. Every additional device consumes battery capacity.

For a simple network, see my guide to the best UPS battery backups for routers and modems.

If your network has grown into a rack or closet full of switches, access points, cameras and storage, I have a separate guide to choosing a UPS for a network closet, NAS, PoE switches and cameras.

Do You Need to Keep Your NAS Running?

Not necessarily.

I run both networking equipment and a NAS on backup power, but their priorities are different during a long outage.

The UPS gives a NAS time to ride through a brief interruption or shut down safely. If the outage is going to last for hours, keeping storage running may consume battery capacity that would be more useful keeping the router, ONT and Wi-Fi alive.

Ideally, a larger home network can shut down nonessential equipment while leaving the low-power networking devices running. With systems like a NAS, it is best to let them shut down gracefully than to abruptly stop.

That can turn a relatively modest UPS into a surprisingly useful source of internet runtime.

How Long Can a UPS Keep Your Internet Running?

Networking equipment is a good candidate for battery backup because its power consumption can be relatively low.

A modem, router and fiber ONT may together consume only a few dozen watts. Start adding switches, multiple access points, PoE cameras, a NAS or satellite equipment and the load can rise quickly.

This is why the VA number printed on a UPS does not tell you how long your internet will run. Runtime depends heavily on the actual wattage of the devices connected to it and the battery capacity of the UPS.

A UPS that provides only a short runtime for a desktop PC may be able to run a modem and router much longer.

If runtime matters, measure or estimate the equipment you actually intend to keep running rather than sizing the UPS around everything that happens to be plugged in nearby.

A UPS Helps Even If Your Outages Are Short

There is another benefit that has nothing to do with surviving an all-day blackout.

A very short power interruption can reboot your modem, router, switches and access points. Power may return almost immediately while you spend the next several minutes waiting for the network to reconnect.

A UPS prevents that.

For homes with reasonably reliable utility service, this may be the most common benefit. The UPS quietly handles flickers and short outages without the network going down at all.

The worse the power reliability at the equipment’s location, the more runtime becomes important. A house that sees an occasional five-minute outage has very different backup-power needs from a remote property that can lose power for several hours.

What Happens During a Long Power Outage?

Eventually a conventional UPS reaches its limit.

During a long outage, several things can end your connection:

your UPS battery runs out
your ISP’s backup power runs out
outside network equipment fails
storm damage interrupts the physical connection
cellular networks become congested

If outages where you live are regularly measured in hours rather than minutes, the next step is larger-scale backup power.

That might mean a portable power station, whole-house battery or generator.

These systems can keep your equipment operating far longer than a normal UPS. They still cannot guarantee that your internet provider remains online, but they solve the problem of running out of power inside the house.

Using Cellular as a Backup Internet Connection

Even if cellular is not your primary internet service, it can provide a valuable second path when cable, fiber or satellite service fails.

The simplest backup is the hotspot built into your phone.

More sophisticated home networks can automatically switch to a dedicated cellular connection when the primary ISP goes down.

Some providers also sell cellular failover services. These can protect against an ISP outage as well as a power outage, provided the cellular network remains available and the backup equipment itself has power.

I would treat cellular as another layer of resilience rather than a guarantee. During a widespread outage, cellular networks can become congested as thousands of people shift traffic onto them at the same time.

How to Test Whether Your Internet Will Work During an Outage

You do not have to wait for the next storm to test half of the system.

If your network is already connected to a UPS, safely disconnect the UPS from wall power and confirm that everything required for internet access stays online.

Check the modem, ONT, satellite terminal or cellular gateway as appropriate, along with the router and any switch or access point you need.

If the internet continues working, you have verified that your equipment and UPS are configured correctly.

The next real neighborhood outage tests the other half: your provider.

If all of your equipment remains powered and the internet still works, you know the provider’s local infrastructure survived that outage.

If your network stays powered but the internet connection disappears, check the ISP’s outage information. The failure may be upstream from your house.

This is worth learning before spending thousands of dollars on larger backup-power equipment under the assumption that powering the house automatically keeps the internet online.

What I Would Do If Internet During an Outage Matters

I would build backup connectivity in layers:

Put the modem, ONT, satellite terminal or cellular gateway and router on backup power.
Back up any switch or Wi-Fi access point you actually need.
Leave unnecessary high-draw equipment off the battery during a long outage.
Measure how long your network actually runs from the UPS.
See how your ISP behaves during a real local outage.
Keep a phone hotspot or other cellular option available.
If long outages are common, consider a larger battery system or generator.

This is particularly useful at a second home or other property you monitor remotely. Keeping the internet connection alive may also keep security cameras, leak sensors, thermostats and other connected devices reachable when the property loses utility power.

So, Will Your Internet Work When the Power Goes Out?

It may, and relatively inexpensive backup power can dramatically improve the odds during a short outage.

You need to keep every essential piece of networking equipment powered. For cable, that generally means the modem and router. For fiber, remember the ONT. Satellite users need to power the satellite equipment, while cellular users need to keep their gateway running.

After that, the provider’s network becomes the limiting factor.

If the network outside your house remains online, your own backup power may keep you connected long after everything else in the house goes dark. If the provider loses upstream infrastructure, no UPS inside your house can restore that connection.

For most homes, I would start with the inexpensive part of the problem: keep the essential networking equipment on battery backup. It prevents nuisance reboots during short outages and gives you a good chance of staying online during longer ones when your provider remains available.

To choose the right size, start with my guide to UPS battery backups for routers and modems.

Published on August 18, 2026

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IPv6 Explained: Why Adoption Is Still Slow Decades Later

Most of us don’t just use the internet once a day — we’re constantly surrounded by connected devices. Phones, laptops, TVs, cameras, even appliances. And that number keeps growing.

At the center of all of it is the basic Internet Protocol (IP), which is what allows devices to talk to each other.

The current version most of the internet still relies on is IPv4. The problem is that IPv4 only supports about

Most of us don’t just use the internet once a day — we’re constantly surrounded by connected devices. Phones, laptops, TVs, cameras, even appliances. And that number keeps growing.

At the center of all of it is the basic Internet Protocol (IP), which is what allows devices to talk to each other.

The current version most of the internet still relies on is IPv4. The problem is that IPv4 only supports about 4,294,967,296 billion unique addresses — and in practice, even fewer than that.

Large blocks are reserved for special purposes
Early allocations gave organizations far more addresses than they needed
Devices are now always connected instead of sharing connections
Broadband adoption continues to expand globally

IPv6 has been around since the late 1990s and became a formal internet standard long before most people ever heard of it. Despite this, adoption has not moved forward very quickly. This expands addressing to 340 undecillion total addresses. What’s an undecillion? 10 to the 36th power- a trillion trillion trillion.

IPV6 and IPV4 can coexist, but one is not backward compatible to the other. You can run a ‘dual stack’ connection, that connects over both versions. Usually this will be IPV6 with an IPV4 fallback. A protocol called ‘Happy Eyeballs’ is used to pick the best option of the two.

Why Has IPv6 Adoption Been So Slow?

IPv6 was introduced in the late 1990s. We are now decades into its existence, and yet most home networks — and a surprising number of enterprise ones — still lean heavily on IPv4.

Yes, we “ran out” of IPv4 addresses on paper. But instead of forcing a painful transition, the industry engineered its way around the problem. Most users wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between using IPV4 or IPV6.

Network Address Translation

Network Address Translation (NAT) became the default. Instead of every device needing a public IP address, entire homes — and even large networks — now sit behind a single one. Your router quietly handles the translation, and for most users, it just works. It is only users who want to host their own services who care as much about having publicly routable IP addresses.

That one workaround removed the urgency that IPv6 depended on. If nothing is visibly broken, nobody is motivated to replace it. Businesses had little motivation to do so, leaving it as important to a much smaller group of people.

Internet Service Providers

Most Internet Service Providers support IPV6, but good luck getting support. Performance is inconsistent. So, your mileage as a customer may vary. Over the last few years, I have turned on and turned off IPV6 at various times, due to reliability issues, but despite limited adoption, it continues to get more reliable and hopefully will continue to do so in the future.

The one exception here is mobile. Mobile providers, especially in Asia, are going native IPV6 mostly due to the need for increasing address space. This is slowly making its way to carriers in the rest of the world. So, considering that, it may be what has caused home ISPs to improve, and may drive additional business adoption as well.

Major platforms like Google and Facebook already see a significant percentage of traffic over IPv6.

Advantages

IPv6 is objectively better in a lot of ways:

Vast address space
End-to-end connectivity
Simpler routing (in theory)

But here’s the problem: there’s no killer feature that users notice.

Switching to IPv6 doesn’t:

make your internet faster
improve your Wi-Fi
unlock some must-have app or other features

IPV6 can be faster than IPV4, but that isn’t strictly because of the protocol. It depends. You may find that one protocol or the other is faster depending on the route your traffic takes.

Should You Enable IPv6?

By default, whether you have a commercial router or a homebuilt one like I do, it is usually very easy to turn on IPV6. If it doesn’t immediately work, you may have to google and adjust a few settings for your ISP. At this point, you can judge for yourself whether or not it is beneficial. Keep it on unless you have issues and see what happens.

If you want a full experiment, turn off IPV4 just to see what happens. You may, like on mobile, not even notice.

Why has IPv6 adoption been so slow?
IPv6 adoption has been slow because IPv4 never actually stopped working. Technologies like NAT allowed networks to stretch limited IPv4 addresses, removing urgency. Since IPv6 offers few noticeable benefits to everyday users, most networks continue to run both protocols without fully transitioning.

Published on April 20, 2026

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Best UPS Battery Backup for Routers and Modems (Keep Your Internet Running During Power Outages)

If your internet connection disappears the moment the power flickers, the problem usually isn’t your internet provider.

It’s your power.

Most home networks rely on several small devices that all require electricity: a modem, a router, sometimes Wi-Fi access points, switches, or security cameras. When power fails, every one of those devices shuts off instantly.

A UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) solves this problem by providing instant battery backup. When electricity fails, the UPS switches to battery power automatically and keeps your networking equipment running.

Because routers and modems draw very little power, even a modest UPS can often keep your internet working for an hour or more.

Quick pick: For most homes, I would start with the CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD. It has enough capacity for a modem, router, switch, access point, and a little room to grow without jumping to a giant UPS.

Just a modem and router: the APC BE650G1 or CyberPower EC650LCD is usually enough.
Router, modem, switch, access point, or cameras: step up to the CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD.
Network closet, rack, NAS, PoE, or multiple access points: see my guide to the best UPS for a home network closet.

Do not plug in a laser printer, space heater, gaming PC, or anything high-draw unless the UPS is sized for it. For this guide, the goal is simple: keep the internet online when the power flickers or goes out.

Best UPS Battery Backup for Routers and Modems

If your goal is keeping your internet connection alive during a power outage, these are the UPS models I would consider first.

UPS Model	Best For	Capacity	Why Pick It	Check Price
CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD	Best overall UPS	1000VA / 600W	The best balance for most home networks: modem, router, switch, access point, and some room to grow.	Check price on Amazon
APC BR1500MS2	Larger home networks	1500VA / 900W	Better for network closets, multiple access points, switches, cameras, or a small rack.	Check price on Amazon
CyberPower EC650LCD	Best budget UPS	650VA / 390W	A good low-cost pick if you mainly want to keep a modem and router online.	Check price on Amazon
APC BE650G1	Small setups	650VA / 390W	Compact, simple, and easy to tuck near a modem/router shelf.	Check price on Amazon

Can a UPS Keep Wi-Fi Working During a Power Outage?

Yes. A properly sized UPS can keep your modem, router, Wi-Fi access point, and small network switch running during short power outages. The runtime depends on the size of the battery backup and how much equipment is plugged into it.

For many home setups, the goal is not to run the entire house. It is to keep the internet connection alive long enough for brief outages, remote work, smart-home devices, security cameras, and alerts to keep functioning.

If your internet provider’s equipment outside the home still has power, a UPS can often keep your home network online. If the neighborhood equipment is also down, the UPS may keep your router running but not preserve the internet connection.

My buying rule: if you only have a modem and router, do not overthink it. A compact 600VA–650VA UPS is often enough. If you have a switch, access point, security camera base station, or smart-home hub, I would usually move up to a 1000VA unit.

That is why the CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD is the safest pick for most people. It is not the cheapest option, but it avoids the common mistake of buying the smallest UPS and then immediately running out of outlets or runtime.

Why Routers and Modems Benefit From a UPS

Networking equipment consumes surprisingly little electricity.

Typical power usage looks like this:

Modem: 10–20 watts
Router: 10–25 watts
Wi-Fi access point: 10–20 watts
Small network switch: 5–20 watts

Because the power draw is low, UPS batteries can keep networking equipment running far longer than desktop computers or gaming systems.

A UPS also protects networking hardware from:

power outages
voltage drops
power surges
short power interruptions

If you work from home, rely on internet-connected security cameras, or have smart home devices that stop working when the network goes down, a UPS can make a bigger difference than you might expect.

If those devices are part of a second-home or vacation-home monitoring setup, the router and modem are not just convenience devices. They are a vital part of your alert system. I cover the broader setup in my guide to vacation home remote monitoring.

Best Overall UPS for Routers and Modems: CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD

The CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD is the one I would buy first for a typical home network.

It is more UPS than a bare modem-and-router setup strictly needs, but that is the point. Most home networks grow. A modem and router become a modem, router, switch, access point, smart-home hub, and maybe a camera bridge. A little extra capacity keeps the UPS useful after the next upgrade.

1000VA / 600W capacity
Pure sine wave output
Automatic Voltage Regulation
LCD status display
Enough headroom for many modem/router/switch/access-point setups

Buy this if: you want one UPS that should handle a normal home network without being huge.

Skip it if: you only need the cheapest possible backup for one modem and one router.

Check the latest price on Amazon

Best UPS for Larger Home Networks: APC BR1500MS2

The APC BR1500MS2 is the step-up pick for people whose “router setup” has turned into a small network closet.

If you have multiple access points, a switch, security-camera gear, a small NAS, or a rack shelf full of boxes, the extra capacity and outlets start to matter. This is probably overkill for a basic modem and router, but it makes sense once the network becomes something the household depends on.

1500VA / 900W capacity
10 outlets
Strong voltage regulation
USB charging ports
More room for network closets and larger setups

Buy this if: you have more than just a modem and router, or you want longer runtime.

Skip it if: your internet setup lives on a small shelf and only has two devices.

Check the latest price on Amazon

Best Budget UPS for Routers and Modems: CyberPower EC650LCD

The CyberPower EC650LCD is the practical budget pick.

If your problem is simple — brief outages knock out the modem and router, then everything takes several minutes to reboot — this is the kind of UPS that solves it without turning the project into a home-lab upgrade.

650VA / 390W capacity
Compact design
LCD battery display
Energy-saving outlets

Buy this if: you want an affordable UPS for a modem and router.

Skip it if: you also need to support multiple access points, a PoE switch, a NAS, or a network closet.

Check the latest price on Amazon

Best Compact UPS for Small Setups: APC BE650G1

The APC BE650G1 is a small UPS designed for simple networking setups.

650VA / 390W capacity
compact footprint
8 outlets
user-replaceable battery

If you only want to keep a modem and router running, this compact UPS can do the job without taking up much space. It is especially appealing if your equipment lives on a shelf, in a corner, or anywhere a larger UPS would be awkward.

Check the latest price

How Long a UPS Can Keep Your Internet Running

UPS runtime depends on how much electricity your devices use.

Because routers and modems consume very little power, runtime can be surprisingly long:

small UPS: 30–60 minutes
mid-size UPS: 1–2 hours
larger UPS: several hours depending on load

If your ISP’s neighborhood equipment stays online during an outage, that can mean your internet keeps working long after the lights go out. Of course, if the provider’s own local infrastructure loses power, your UPS cannot fix that. But for many brief outages and localized electrical issues inside your home, it absolutely helps.

How Much UPS Capacity Do You Actually Need for a Router and Modem?

This is one of the biggest mistakes people make when shopping for a UPS. They assume they need a huge battery backup because that is what they would need for a gaming PC or home server.

For a modem and router, that usually is not true.

If your combined load is only 20 to 40 watts, even a modest UPS can provide meaningful runtime. The bigger units are useful if:

you want much longer runtime
you also want to power access points, switches, or cameras
you want extra overhead and flexibility

For a simple setup, the budget and compact models are often enough. For more complicated home networks, the larger units become easier to justify.

Need Backup Power for More Than Your Internet?

A UPS is ideal for keeping a modem, router and other networking equipment alive through short outages. But if you also want to run a refrigerator, freezer, lights or other household equipment, you quickly move beyond normal UPS territory.

For longer outages, see our guide to portable power stations vs. generators. If a battery system makes more sense for you, we also compared the best 2kWh portable power stations for home backup.

UPS Features That Matter for Networking Equipment

When choosing a UPS for routers and modems, these features matter most:

Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR) to stabilize power fluctuations
pure sine wave output for sensitive electronics
surge protection for networking hardware
sufficient outlets for your modem, router, and other equipment

You do not necessarily need the most expensive UPS on the market, but you do want one that handles brownouts and voltage fluctuations gracefully. Those are often more common than full outages.

If you want to understand these features in more detail, see this guide to choosing a UPS with the right features.

If you are deciding between UPS models for a router, NAS, home server, or monitoring setup, that broader UPS feature guide goes deeper on AVR, PFC compatibility, USB shutdown, and replaceable batteries.

When a UPS Makes the Biggest Difference for Home Internet

A UPS battery backup is especially useful if:

power flickers frequently
you work from home
your security cameras rely on internet connectivity
your smart home devices depend on cloud services
your modem takes several minutes to come back online after a power outage

Even brief outages can lead to several minutes of downtime while a modem and router reboot. A UPS prevents that interruption entirely and can make your home internet feel much more reliable.

The same logic applies if your home network supports leak sensors, door and window sensors, smoke/CO alerts, or remote cameras. Those alerts are only useful if the network stays online long enough to send them. For more on that side of the setup, see my guides to Govee leak sensors, door and window sensors for a vacation home, and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

What I Would Buy

For most people, I would buy the CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD. It has enough capacity for a normal home network, gives you room to add a switch or access point, and avoids the regret of buying the smallest possible UPS.

For a very simple modem-and-router setup, I would save money with the CyberPower EC650LCD or APC BE650G1.

For a larger network closet, I would move up to the APC BR1500MS2.

The main thing is not to put your entire office on the UPS just because there are empty outlets. Use it for the networking gear that keeps the house online. That is where a UPS gives you the most value for the least battery drain.

Which UPS Is Best for Your Router and Modem?

If you want the best balance of price, features, and runtime, the CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD is the strongest overall choice for most people.

If you have a larger home network or want more runtime, the APC BR1500MS2 is a strong upgrade.

If you want a lower-cost solution, the CyberPower EC650LCD and APC BE650G1 are both sensible picks for simple setups.

For something as simple as keeping your router and modem online during a power outage, a UPS is one of the most practical upgrades you can make. Once you have one, it is hard to go back to watching your internet disappear every time the power blinks.

Published on March 29, 2026

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2.5G vs 10G Ethernet: Which Home Network Upgrade Makes Sense?

Technology marches on, and keeping up with the times always raises the same question: When is an upgrade worth the cost? I remember when I first moved to gigabit networking. Prices have dropped since then, but it still surprises me how many devices in 2025 are stuck on older, slower Fast Ethernet. For homelab hobbyists, choosing anything below gigabit today would be unusual. Above that, the choices are: 2.5G, 5G, and 10G Ethernet.

Quick Answer: Should You Choose 2.5G or 10G Ethernet?

For most home networks, 2.5G Ethernet is the practical upgrade. It is cheaper, works over existing Cat 5e or Cat 6 wiring in many homes, and is fast enough for faster internet plans, Wi-Fi access points, and everyday file transfers.

10G Ethernet makes more sense when you have a NAS, homelab servers, large media files, video editing workflows, or multiple high-speed devices moving data across the local network. The best answer for many homes is not 2.5G everywhere or 10G everywhere, but a hybrid setup: 2.5G to most rooms and 10G links between the router, main switch, and NAS.

Upgrade Path	Best For	Main Tradeoff
2.5G Ethernet	Most home users, faster internet, Wi-Fi access points, desktops	Not as fast for NAS or server-heavy workflows
10G Ethernet	NAS, homelab, large file transfers, video work, server links	Higher cost, more heat, more careful hardware choices
Hybrid 2.5G + 10G	Homes that want speed without rebuilding everything	Requires planning switch uplinks and key devices

Future Proofing with the Right Cabling

As part of my recent renovations, I’ve been looking at ways to future-proof my infrastructure. The wiring I had installed is Cat 6, which has been the recommended standard for years and while there are newer options, Cat 6 supports higher data rates and distances, including 10G Ethernet up to 55 meters (180 feet)—more than enough for a residence.

But do you really need 10G? The cost-benefit question for home setups is still up for debate, though prices are slowly coming down.

The Internet vs. Local Speed

The first question is: what’s the speed of your internet connection? Even if it’s slower, there are still reasons to benefit from faster networking inside your home. For years, gigabit outpaced typical internet connections. But now, 1G and 2G internet plans are becoming more common—whether or not they actually deliver those speeds is another debate.

Why Faster Networking Still Matters

So why upgrade beyond gigabit? One reason is Network Attached Storage (NAS). I’ve written before about building a NAS. At the end of the day, a NAS is just a giant storage box—and when you’re pulling data from it, you want those files to arrive as fast as possible.

Serious homelab enthusiasts argue that now is the time to skip straight to *10G networking*. And there’s a solid case for that.

The Cost of 10G Hardware

A quick Amazon search shows this $33 PCI-E network card that uses a single SFP+ port. Dual SFP+ ports are only a few dollars more. I have an empty slot in my NAS, I could have this in there tomorrow. Switches with 10G ports used to be out of reach, but today I’m seeing options with 2.5G ports plus one or two SFP+ ports rated for 10G.

For those unfamiliar: SFP+ is a modular port that supports fiber optic or copper Ethernet modules, making it flexible for future upgrades.

A Hybrid Approach: 2.5G + 10G

My plan is to run a router with both SFP+ and 2.5G ports, with one of the 10G uplinks feeding a downstream 2.5G switch. That gives me:

A noticeable speed increase now
Flexibility to add faster devices later
The option to interconnect switches at 10G speeds

It’s not the full leap to 10G everywhere, but it’s a balanced, future-ready upgrade path for my homelab.

Published on October 9, 2025

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POE Cameras and Frigate NVR: Why I Switched to Local Home Surveillance

During my recent renovation, I added two additional cameras to my new space, at the two points of ingress. This was something of a departure as these were also the first Power Over Ethernet(POE) cameras I’ve had installed, as I had someone on-site available who could run the cables cleanly.

I’ve tried a variety of ecosystems for cameras, both for myself and others. Many of them push you toward subscription-based cloud services, which features like video history, motion detection, and notifications only work fully if you pay monthly. Some of them barely provide any features without paying, despite the fact you bought the device. Even when offering local options, this is often storage with a microSD card in the camera, which is clunky, slow, and unreliable.

That is why I decided to go with a network video recorder. A server that takes the feeds from all the cameras and stores the recordings. You can buy commercial NVRs you can purchase and install in your house, including some that integrate with the specific hardware cameras you bought, but I wanted a solution that aligned with my philosophy of self-hosted, privacy first smart home tech.

So I chose Frigate.

Quick Answer: Why Use POE Cameras With Frigate?

POE cameras and Frigate make sense if you want a local home-surveillance system that does not depend on a cloud subscription. Power Over Ethernet cameras are more reliable than Wi-Fi cameras, and Frigate can record video, detect people, cars, animals, and other objects, and let you tune alerts around the parts of your property you actually care about.

Choice	Why It Matters
POE cameras	More reliable than Wi-Fi cameras and powered through the network cable
Frigate NVR	Local recording and object detection without relying on a cloud camera plan
Detection zones	Reduce false alerts from sidewalks, streets, neighbors, or passing cars
Self-hosted storage	Keeps recordings under your control instead of inside a camera company’s subscription
Frigate+	Optional model improvements without turning the whole system into a traditional cloud lock-in product

Why Frigate?

Frigate is an open-source NVR designed for real-time object detection all running on local hardware. It is deeply customizable and can be tuned to only record what matters to you – people, cars, or animals, depending on what zones and filters you decide.

For example, one of my outdoor cameras flagged every pedestrian across the street, which is well outside of the zone I am concerned about. I can narrow the zone to only my property, to dramatically reduce noise in footage and alerts.

Frigate recently added:

facial recognition
license plate recognition.
View-only user roles for shared access

Everything is processed locally, with no cloud dependency.

Frigate+: Smarter Detection, Optional Subscription

To improve detection, you can also subscribe to Frigate+, a $50/year subscription which offers better trained models for detection. These are trained by other users of Frigate. You can participate by submitting false positives and other information voluntarily. If you cancel, you get to keep the downloaded models, you just stop getting updates.

This helps support the developers and doesn’t lock you into a traditional subscription model.

Frigate Notifications

One gap in the core Frigate setup is the lack of built-in robust multi-platform notifications. That’s where another piece of software, Frigate-Notify, comes in. It offers all of the notification options I might want.

Rich notifications
Cross-platform delivery including mobile, desktop, and messaging apps
Fully customizable

Next Steps For My Frigate NVR

Inspired by how well the new system is performing, I plan to replace more of my older Wi-Fi cameras with wired POE models for improved reliability. Wired cameras streaming directly to my NVR reduces lag, improves reliability, and gives me full control over recording, storage, and alerts—without the cloud.

If you’re tired of cloud lock-in and unreliable Wi-Fi cams, and you want a privacy-respecting, smarter surveillance system, Frigate + POE may be the combo you’ve been looking for.

Published on September 8, 2025

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Best NAS Software for Home Use in 2026: TrueNAS vs Unraid vs OpenMediaVault

I originally wrote this article in 2024 while deciding what software to use for a home-built NAS. The basic question has not changed, but the software has.

TrueNAS has consolidated its Linux-based platform under the name TrueNAS Community Edition. Unraid has added much more ZFS support and changed its licensing. OpenMediaVault has moved to Debian 13 with OpenMediaVault 8.

My own answer has not changed very much.

My current NAS runs TrueNAS on a low-power Intel N100 system. I chose it because I wanted the NAS to behave primarily like a storage appliance. I have other computers for applications, containers and general home-server work. I want the box containing my files to be boring.

But that does not mean TrueNAS is automatically the best NAS software for everyone.

If I were building a home server around a collection of mismatched hard drives and wanted Plex, Docker containers and virtual machines on the same machine, I would look very seriously at Unraid. If I wanted a lightweight, completely free NAS operating system for modest hardware, OpenMediaVault would be hard to ignore.

Here is how I would choose between them in 2026.

Quick Answer: Best NAS Software for Home Use in 2026

NAS Software	Best For	Biggest Advantage	Main Tradeoff
TrueNAS Community Edition	Storage-first NAS, ZFS, snapshots and data integrity	Excellent integrated ZFS storage platform	Storage layout requires more planning
Unraid	Home servers, mixed drive sizes, Plex, Docker and easy expansion	Very flexible storage and application platform	Costs money and its classic array works differently from traditional RAID
OpenMediaVault	Free lightweight NAS, older hardware and Linux users	Simple Debian-based foundation with low overhead	More dependent on plugins and manual configuration for advanced features

If you want my short recommendation:

Choose TrueNAS if protecting and managing storage is the primary purpose of the machine.
Choose Unraid if you want one box to be both your NAS and your home server.
Choose OpenMediaVault if you want a free, lighter-weight NAS platform and are comfortable doing a little more yourself.

The Most Important Question: Is This a NAS or a Home Server?

A lot of NAS software comparisons start with features.

I would start somewhere else.

Decide what job you want the computer to have.

A dedicated NAS has a relatively simple job:

Store files
Share files over the network
Protect those files against a drive failure
Create snapshots
Monitor drive health
Replicate or back up important data
Stay running quietly for years

A home server may also run:

Plex or Jellyfin
Home Assistant
Immich
Nextcloud
Docker containers
Virtual machines
Game servers
Download clients
Web services
Dozens of other self-hosted applications

TrueNAS, Unraid and OpenMediaVault can all stretch beyond simple file storage.

But they approach the problem from different directions.

TrueNAS feels like storage software that learned how to run applications.

Unraid feels like a home-server platform that is also very good at storing files.

OpenMediaVault feels like Debian turned into a manageable NAS appliance.

That is a more useful way to think about the choice than counting checkboxes.

TrueNAS Community Edition: Best for a Storage-First NAS

TrueNAS is still my choice for my primary home NAS.

The main reason is ZFS.

ZFS combines the filesystem and volume-management layers and provides features that are particularly attractive for storage:

End-to-end checksums
Snapshots
Data scrubbing
Replication
Compression
RAIDZ redundancy
Mirrored pools
Dataset-level management

For a box whose main job is protecting a large collection of files, those are exactly the features I want.

TrueNAS CORE vs. SCALE Is No Longer the Decision

This was one of the biggest areas of confusion when I first wrote this article.

TrueNAS used to have two major community platforms:

TrueNAS CORE, based on FreeBSD
TrueNAS SCALE, based on Linux

That is no longer the way I would approach a new installation.

TrueNAS SCALE was renamed TrueNAS Community Edition in 2025 and is now the company’s primary free community platform.

TrueNAS CORE entered sustaining engineering, and TrueNAS says 13.3-U1.2 was the final release in that train. New development is happening on Community Edition.

If I were installing TrueNAS from scratch in 2026, I would use Community Edition rather than begin a new CORE system.

At the time of this update, TrueNAS 25.10 is the current stable release family, while TrueNAS 26 is still moving through beta development. You can check the current TrueNAS software status before installing.

TrueNAS Is More Flexible to Expand Than It Used to Be

One of the longstanding criticisms of ZFS was that you needed to plan your storage layout carefully before filling the pool.

That criticism is less severe than it once was.

TrueNAS now supports RAIDZ expansion, which allows an existing RAIDZ vdev to be expanded by adding drives one at a time.

That is a significant improvement for home NAS builders who do not want to buy every drive on day one.

There are still reasons to plan carefully. The capacity of drives inside a vdev, parity level and layout all affect usable capacity and performance. Adding a drive to RAIDZ also does not make every historical block magically identical to a freshly created larger vdev.

But the old advice that a RAIDZ configuration is essentially frozen forever is outdated.

TrueNAS Hardware Requirements

TrueNAS is not particularly demanding by modern computer standards, but it is heavier than a bare-bones Linux NAS.

The current minimum recommendations include:

64-bit x86 processor
At least 8GB of RAM
A dedicated boot device
Separate drives for the storage pool

More RAM becomes useful as storage, applications, virtual machines and client workloads increase.

My N100-based NAS is a good example of why I like building rather than automatically buying a commercial appliance. Modern low-power CPUs can provide plenty of performance for ordinary home file serving while using very little electricity.

If you would rather buy the whole box instead of building one, see our guide to the best NAS systems for home use in 2026.

You Can Run Apps on TrueNAS

TrueNAS is no longer merely a file server.

Community Edition can run applications and virtual machines, and the platform continues to expand its container capabilities.

You can absolutely use one TrueNAS machine as both your storage system and a broader home server.

I simply prefer not to.

Every extra service I put on the storage machine creates another dependency, another update and another thing that can break.

I would rather reboot a home-server machine without thinking about every computer in the house suddenly losing its file shares.

That is a preference, not a requirement.

What I Like About TrueNAS

Excellent ZFS integration
Strong snapshot and replication tools
Free and open source Community Edition
Good storage monitoring
RAIDZ and mirrored storage layouts
RAIDZ can now be expanded incrementally
Apps and virtual machines are available if you want them
Large user and documentation base

What I Don’t Like About TrueNAS

You should understand ZFS and vdev layout before creating the pool.
It is heavier than a minimal NAS operating system.
Mixing random drive sizes is less elegant than it is with Unraid’s classic array.
The number of storage options can be intimidating for a first-time builder.
It can tempt you to turn a storage appliance into an everything-server simply because the features are available.

Unraid: Best for Flexible Home Servers and Mixed Drives

Unraid solves a different problem extremely well.

Suppose you already own:

One 16TB hard drive
Two 12TB drives
An 8TB drive
A couple of SSDs

And you would like to turn all of that into one useful server without replacing the drives simply to make everything match.

That is exactly the kind of situation where Unraid becomes attractive.

How the Unraid Array Works

Unraid’s traditional array does not stripe every file across all of the disks in the way conventional RAID does.

Files live on individual data disks, while one or two parity disks can protect the array against drive failures.

The parity drive must be at least as large as the largest data drive, but the data disks themselves can differ in size.

That makes expansion unusually convenient.

If you need more capacity, you can often add another disk rather than rebuilding the entire storage layout around a matching set.

For a home user accumulating storage over many years, that flexibility has real value.

Unraid Also Supports ZFS

The old shorthand that “TrueNAS is ZFS and Unraid isn’t” is no longer accurate.

Modern Unraid supports ZFS storage pools in addition to its classic parity-protected array and other storage pools.

That gives you choices.

You might use:

The Unraid array for large-capacity media storage
An SSD pool for applications and fast data
A ZFS pool for data where you specifically want ZFS features

That combination is one of the reasons Unraid has become such an interesting all-purpose home-server platform.

Unraid Is Especially Good at Applications

This is where I think Unraid has its clearest advantage for many homelab users.

Docker containers, virtual machines and the Community Apps ecosystem are central to the experience rather than feeling like features added around a storage appliance.

If you want one machine running:

Plex
Jellyfin
Immich
Nextcloud
Home Assistant
Download applications
Game servers
Windows or Linux virtual machines

while also holding a large collection of files, Unraid makes a lot of sense.

Unraid Pricing in 2026

Unlike TrueNAS Community Edition and OpenMediaVault, Unraid is commercial software.

Current pricing is:

License	Price	Storage Devices	Updates Included
Starter	$49	Up to 6	1 year
Unleashed	$109	Unlimited	1 year
Lifetime	$249	Unlimited	Lifetime

The licenses themselves are perpetual. Starter and Unleashed include a year of updates; you can continue using the version you have after that or pay to extend update access.

Check Unraid’s current pricing before buying in case the structure changes.

For a server that may contain thousands of dollars of drives and years of your data, I do not consider $49 or $109 an inherently unreasonable software expense.

The question is whether Unraid’s flexibility provides enough value for your particular build.

What About Unraid 8?

Unraid announced Unraid 8 in August 2026, with planned changes including a new distribution base, Docker Compose integration and integrated backup features.

That is interesting, but I would not delay a NAS build or choose a platform based primarily on unreleased software.

Buy or install the platform based on what it does today.

What I Like About Unraid

Excellent support for mismatched drive sizes
Easy incremental expansion
Very good Docker and application experience
Strong community ecosystem
Virtual machines are well integrated
ZFS pools are now available alongside the classic Unraid array
Works particularly well as a combined NAS and home server

What I Don’t Like About Unraid

It is not free.
The classic Unraid array is a different storage model from RAIDZ or conventional RAID and should be understood before use.
Running every service on one machine can make that machine increasingly important and complicated.
Users who only want a storage appliance may never use much of what makes Unraid attractive.

OpenMediaVault: Best Free Lightweight NAS Software

OpenMediaVault is the option I think gets overlooked most often.

OpenMediaVault 8 is based on Debian 13 and provides a web interface for managing a NAS without requiring you to configure every service manually from the command line.

It supports ordinary NAS functions including:

SMB/CIFS file sharing
FTP
SSH
rsync
Drive health monitoring
Volume management
Network configuration
Notifications
Plugins

The result is something much closer to a conventional Linux server than TrueNAS, but much easier to administer as a NAS than installing Debian and building everything manually.

OpenMediaVault’s Biggest Advantage Is Simplicity

OpenMediaVault does not impose as much of a storage philosophy on you.

You have Debian underneath. You have a web interface on top. You can add the services you actually need.

That makes it useful for:

An old PC being repurposed as a NAS
A low-power small computer
A simple two-drive or four-drive file server
Users who already understand Linux
People who want free NAS software without adopting the full TrueNAS ecosystem

OpenMediaVault also has a large plugin ecosystem that can add functionality beyond the base installation.

The Tradeoff Is Integration

TrueNAS is built around ZFS.

Unraid is built around its storage array and home-server ecosystem.

OpenMediaVault is more modular.

That flexibility is useful, but it also means that some configurations depend on plugins, additional packages or more manual decisions.

If you want a carefully integrated ZFS appliance, I would choose TrueNAS.

If you want a deeply integrated Docker-heavy home server, I would lean toward Unraid.

If you want Debian with a good NAS management interface and the freedom to shape the machine yourself, OpenMediaVault becomes very appealing.

What I Like About OpenMediaVault

Free and open source
Based on standard Debian Linux
Lower hardware overhead
Web-based administration
Good choice for repurposed hardware
Modular plugin architecture
Easy to understand if you already know Linux

What I Don’t Like About OpenMediaVault

Advanced setups can rely heavily on plugins.
The storage experience is less unified than TrueNAS.
The application ecosystem is less central to the platform than it is with Unraid.
You may end up doing more Linux administration yourself.

TrueNAS vs. Unraid vs. OpenMediaVault: Feature Comparison

Feature	TrueNAS	Unraid	OpenMediaVault
Software cost	Free	$49-$249	Free
Best storage model	ZFS pools	Parity array plus storage pools	Flexible Linux storage
ZFS	Core feature	Supported	Possible with additional configuration/plugins
Mixed-size drives	Possible, but planning matters and each vdev is constrained by its smallest member	Excellent in classic array	Depends on chosen storage configuration
Easy drive-by-drive expansion	Improved with RAIDZ expansion	Excellent	Depends on configuration
Snapshots	Excellent with ZFS	Available depending on storage pool/filesystem	Depends on filesystem/plugin setup
Docker/apps	Yes	Excellent	Available through additional components/plugins
Virtual machines	Yes	Excellent	Not a primary strength
Minimum hardware	Moderate	Moderate	Light
Best personality	Storage appliance	All-in-one home server	Lightweight Linux NAS

Which NAS Software Is Best for Data Integrity?

I would choose TrueNAS.

ZFS is central to the platform rather than one filesystem option among many.

Checksums, scrubs, snapshots and replication are all integrated into how TrueNAS expects storage to be managed.

You can absolutely build safe storage with the other platforms. But if storage integrity is the reason the machine exists, TrueNAS is the easiest answer for me.

Which NAS Software Is Best for Plex?

I would probably choose Unraid if I were building a combined Plex server and NAS.

The combination of flexible drive expansion, Docker applications and hardware passthrough makes it particularly well suited to a large media server.

You can run Plex on TrueNAS too.

But if Plex and other self-hosted applications are central to the server rather than secondary functions, I think Unraid’s priorities line up better with the job.

Which NAS Software Is Best for Old Hardware?

I would look first at OpenMediaVault.

It is lighter and closer to ordinary Debian Linux.

TrueNAS officially recommends at least 8GB of RAM, while a simple OpenMediaVault system can be useful on much more modest hardware.

That does not mean every old PC is a good NAS.

Power consumption matters. A free twelve-year-old tower that idles at 80 watts can cost more to own than buying newer low-power hardware.

Which NAS Software Is Best If Your Drives Are Different Sizes?

Unraid has the clearest advantage.

The classic Unraid array was designed around exactly this problem.

You can add different-capacity data drives as long as the parity drive is large enough for the largest data disk.

If you have accumulated a pile of usable drives over the years and want to turn them into one system, Unraid can save a lot of money.

Which NAS Software Is Best If You Want to Add Drives Later?

Unraid remains the easiest answer, but TrueNAS is much more competitive than it was when I first wrote this article.

RAIDZ expansion now lets TrueNAS users add drives to an existing RAIDZ vdev one at a time.

That removes one of the biggest historical advantages Unraid had over ZFS for small home systems.

Unraid is still more forgiving if your future drives are likely to be whatever capacity happens to be cheap when you need more storage.

Should You Run Your NAS Inside Proxmox?

You can.

That does not necessarily mean you should.

Proxmox is primarily a virtualization platform rather than NAS software. A common homelab design is to run TrueNAS or another NAS operating system as a virtual machine under Proxmox.

If you do this, the storage controller or physical disks should be presented to the NAS in a way that gives the storage operating system appropriate direct access.

This can be an excellent design when you understand the virtualization and storage layers.

For my primary storage, I prefer fewer layers.

I want the NAS operating system running directly on the hardware because the ability to run another virtual machine on the same box is not worth making recovery more complicated for me.

Why Not Just Install Debian or Ubuntu?

You certainly can.

That is effectively what I did with some of my older home-server systems.

Install Linux, configure Samba, configure NFS, set up SMART monitoring, create filesystems, configure snapshots, configure notifications and maintain everything yourself.

It works.

It also made me appreciate NAS software.

The point of TrueNAS, Unraid or OpenMediaVault is not that Linux cannot share a directory.

The point is that I want storage management to behave like an appliance instead of becoming another custom Linux project I have to remember how I configured three years later.

What About Synology DSM, UGREEN UGOS and TerraMaster TOS?

Those are important NAS operating systems, but they are primarily part of buying their manufacturers’ NAS hardware rather than software I would normally install on a DIY server.

If you want the simplest home NAS experience, that may actually be the better route.

I would still recommend a prebuilt NAS to many friends before recommending that they build a server and install any of the software in this article.

Our 2026 home NAS buying guide compares Synology, UGREEN, TerraMaster and building your own.

Your Network Can Become the Bottleneck

Once you build a decent NAS, storage software is often no longer the thing limiting performance.

A single hard drive can already saturate a 1Gb Ethernet connection during large sequential transfers.

Modern SSD pools can go dramatically faster.

If you are building or upgrading a NAS, consider whether your network should move to 2.5GbE or 10GbE as well.

Our guide to 2.5GbE vs. 10GbE for a home network covers that decision.

Redundancy Is Still Not a Backup

Whichever NAS software you choose, RAID, RAIDZ and parity do not replace backups.

Redundancy can protect you when a drive fails.

It does not automatically protect you from:

Accidentally deleting a file
Ransomware
Filesystem mistakes
Software bugs
Theft
Fire
Flood
A major electrical event
Losing the entire NAS

Snapshots help with some of those problems. Replication helps with others.

Important data should still exist somewhere other than the primary NAS.

My Choice: TrueNAS, but for a Specific Reason

I still use TrueNAS.

My current system runs on an Intel N100 platform and primarily serves files.

I could load it with applications.

I don’t.

I have other systems for that.

I want the NAS to boot, make the storage available, monitor the drives and otherwise stay out of the way.

TrueNAS fits that philosophy extremely well.

If I instead wanted to consolidate my NAS, Plex server, Docker host and assorted homelab applications into one machine, I would be much more tempted by Unraid.

If I were turning an older low-power computer into an inexpensive two-drive file server, I might use OpenMediaVault.

There is no universal winner because these three platforms are trying to solve slightly different problems.

Frequently Asked Questions About NAS Software

What is the best NAS software for home use?

For a storage-first home NAS, I prefer TrueNAS Community Edition. Unraid is an excellent choice for a combined NAS and home server, especially if you have mixed drive sizes. OpenMediaVault is a strong free option for a lightweight Linux-based NAS.

Is TrueNAS better than Unraid?

It depends on the job. TrueNAS has an advantage if you specifically want a ZFS-focused storage appliance. Unraid is generally easier to expand with mismatched drives and has an especially strong home-server and application ecosystem.

Is Unraid worth paying for?

It can be. If Unraid allows you to reuse several mismatched drives, expand the server gradually and consolidate applications onto one machine, the license cost can be small compared with the hardware savings. If you only need basic file storage, a free platform may make more sense.

Is OpenMediaVault still good in 2026?

Yes. OpenMediaVault 8 is a current Debian 13-based NAS platform. It remains particularly attractive for lighter hardware, simple file servers and users who prefer a conventional Linux foundation.

Is TrueNAS CORE still recommended?

I would not start a new TrueNAS CORE installation in 2026. TrueNAS has moved new community development to the Linux-based TrueNAS Community Edition, formerly known as SCALE. CORE is now effectively a legacy branch.

Can TrueNAS use different-size hard drives?

Yes, but ZFS pool design matters. Within a vdev, usable capacity is constrained by the smallest drive, so matching drive sizes is usually more efficient. TrueNAS now supports expanding RAIDZ vdevs one drive at a time, which makes later growth easier than it used to be.

Does Unraid support ZFS?

Yes. Modern Unraid supports ZFS storage pools in addition to the traditional Unraid parity array and other filesystem options.

Do I need 10Gb Ethernet for a NAS?

No. 1GbE is adequate for ordinary file storage, backups and media streaming. 2.5GbE is an inexpensive and useful upgrade for many homes. 10GbE becomes more attractive for large transfers, multiple fast clients and SSD-heavy storage.

Can I use an old PC as a NAS?

Yes, assuming the hardware is reliable and has suitable storage connections. But check idle power consumption before assuming an old computer is the cheapest long-term choice.

Which NAS Software Would I Choose in 2026?

If I were starting again today:

TrueNAS Community Edition for a serious storage appliance
Unraid for an all-in-one home server with flexible drives
OpenMediaVault for a lightweight free NAS or inexpensive repurposed system

I chose TrueNAS because I wanted my storage to be storage.

Someone building a large Plex server from a pile of mismatched disks could make an equally rational choice and end up with Unraid.

And someone who wants little more than a reliable SMB share on modest hardware may find that OpenMediaVault is all the NAS operating system they need.

The software should follow the job you want the server to do.

Published on May 31, 2024

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