My router (Netgear R6400v2) lacks many of the features I would like to use and become familiar with:

• VLANs
• Advanced routing, firewall
• Monitoring, logging, alerts
• etc.

I need a new router.

I have a few options from here:

1. ❌ Write custom firmware to existing router (DD-WRT, OpenWRT, Tomato, etc.)

   • ➕ Fun
   • ➕ Free
   • ➖ Too much jank

2. ❌ Buy new hardware

   • ➕ Very easy setup
   • ➖ Boring
   • 💲 Could require expensive/high-end router hardware

3. ✅ Repurpose existing hardware

Nighttime bicycle rides in the summer are ideal:

• 🧊 cool temperatures
• 🚘 little traffic
• 🦝 nocturnal wildlife

But it is not easy to see in the dark, so I bring a headlamp and okay, fine, this works. With my current headlamp I can see and be seen just fine. But there are some limitations. I see wonderfully directly ahead of me in the narrow cone of light provided, but at the edges of this light cone I see practically nothing at all, as though I am looking through a paper towel roll. The beam pattern is optimized for riding in a straight line, with little regard for what lies in the periphery. I would like a greater field of view, so I will need a lamp with a wide beam pattern.

I came into the possession of a malfunctioning hoverboard, volunteering to attempt a repair – at the very least a diagnosis. The nature of the malfunction was not known, but my initial guess was that the battery died. I took it home to see if I could fix it, hoping that I would be lucky and need only re-connect a loose connection.

🔍 Troubleshooting

I open up the electronics enclosure to expose the wiring to confirm my suspicion.

I need to upsize the plant cart. The current cart is undersized so I will replace it with a very large wire shelving unit.

Overview

I use cable ties to affix the shop lights to the underside of the wire shelves. There are now three light units:

• 4 ft shop light (2)
• 2 ft shop light

The 2 ft shop light was meant for the old smaller plant cart. New lights are 4 ft long, matching the length of the shelving unit.The lights are powered by a power strip with a 6 ft cord. It is attached to the side of the wire shelf with yet more cable ties. I also removed the overhead EMT conduit-mounted spotlights since they have been replaced by a shop light. It is a cleaner look.

In a previous post I recorded the state of my network at the time, which included no centralized reverse proxy. There was no need. I accessed my services locally and each of the service host ran its own reverse proxy on its own IP. I show this configuration in the diagram below.

✅ Multiple Reverse Proxies (LOCAL ONLY)

  graph TD

subgraph lan[🏠LAN]
    client[🧑‍💻Client]
    subgraph hostA["🖥️Docker Host"]
        reverseproxyA["🚪Reverse Proxy"]
        serviceAA["🧠LLM"]
    end
    subgraph hostB["🖥️Kubernetes Host"]
        reverseproxyB["🚪Reverse Proxy"]
        serviceBA["🖼️Photos"]
        serviceBB["📝Blog"]
    end
end

client -->|192.168.1.10:443|reverseproxyA
client -->|192.168.1.11:443|reverseproxyB

reverseproxyA -->|llm.domain.com|serviceAA
reverseproxyB -->|photos.domain.com|serviceBA
reverseproxyB -->|blog.domain.com|serviceBB

However, now I would like to access certain services from beyond my local network, and not just for myself. I want them to be accessible to all web users, otherwise I would simply set up a client-to-site VPN and be done. I want them to be accessible over HTTPS.

For a brief moment in time, Domino’s website hosted a certain document which, when combined with the other such documentation of their foods, formed a kind of holy trinity of reverse-engineering material:

• ingredient lists
• nutrition data
• total weights

This information can normally be found on the site to some degree, but what is unusual this time is the inclusion of the total weight values for each food item. This makes me job especially easy.