Need help with Home Server Networking Configuration
reddit / selfhosted

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ThenShine9864 · 2023-11-14 13:00

Hello fellow Redditors,

I'm facing a bit of a networking challenge with my home server setup,
and I'm hoping someone here might have some insights or suggestions.

**Issue:** I have a home server with two network interfaces: enp2s0
(Ethernet) and wlp3s0 (Wi-Fi). My goal is to ensure that the server is
always reachable at IP 192.168.1.254, regardless of which interface is
active.

**Previous Attempt:** I initially tried configuring a bond, but it
didn't solve the problem. When the Ethernet interface (enp2s0) was
active, devices connected via Wi-Fi couldn't find the server. With the
following Netplan configuration:

    # Custom Netplan for Home-Server
    network:
        version: 2
        renderer: networkd
        ethernets:
            enp2s0:
                dhcp4: no
                dhcp6: no
        wifis:
            wlp3s0:
                dhcp4: no
                dhcp6: no
                access-points:
                    MY_WIFI:
                        password: mypassword123
        bonds:
            bond0:
                dhcp4: no
                addresses:
                    - 192.168.1.254/24
                routes:
                    - to: default
                      via: 192.168.1.1
                nameservers:
                    addresses: [8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4]
                interfaces: [enp2s0, wlp3s0]
                parameters:
                    mode: active-backup
                    primary: enp2s0
                    arp-interval: 10
                    arp-ip-targets: [192.168.1.1]

This configuration above worked very well. When the cable was not
connected, the wifi took over and the server was always accessible via
[192.168.1.254](https://192.168.1.254). But my wifi devices couldn't
access the server when the cable was connected (the slave enp2s0
active).

​

So I tried this:

**Current Configuration:** I've set up a bridge with the following
Netplan configuration:

    # Custom Netplan for Home-Server
    network:
        version: 2
        renderer: networkd
        ethernets:
            enp2s0:
                dhcp4: no
                dhcp6: no
        wifis:
            wlp3s0:
                dhcp4: no
                dhcp6: no
                access-points:
                    MY_WIFI:
                        password: mypassword123
        bridges:
            br0:
                interfaces:
                    - enp2s0
                    - wlp3s0
                dhcp4: no
                addresses:
                    - 192.168.1.254/24
                routes:
                    - to: default
                      via: 192.168.1.1
                nameservers:
                    addresses: [8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4]
                parameters:
                    path-cost:
                        enp2s0: 100
                        wlp3s0: 300

**Current Challenge:** Although the current configuration allows wired
and wireless devices to always see the server, I have lost fault
tolerance. If Ethernet (enp2s0) is disconnected, the server is
unreachable.

**Seeking Assistance:** I'm reaching out to the community for any
suggestions or solutions that could help me achieve fault tolerance
while maintaining the ability for devices on both interfaces to reach
the server.

If anyone has experience with similar setups or has ideas on how to
improve my configuration, I'd greatly appreciate your insights!

Thank you in advance for your help.