I have a lot of project ideas that I haven’t prioritized enough to spend money on. So, here are some thing I’d like to experiment with. Also, if you have any leads on where I can find some of these products, it would help too.

ISP Hardware (vintage / but not too vintage)⌗

I’d love to build a homelab ISP. I’m probably going to make some videos on this in the future, as I’m working on a WAN Simulator to play with map-t / 464xlat / dslite and friends. In particular, gear which was new during the dot-com bubble is probably too old.

  • Dial-up is too old
  • ISDN BRI / PRI is also too old
  • DSLAM / any DSL gear would be fun (this was more tail-end of the dot-com bubble except in Germany)
  • DOCSIS gear (this is still actively deployed by some shitty ISPs in the US!)
  • PON gear (this is what should be deployed in 2025)
  • Switches which support SONIC

Apalrd’s Fiber LAb⌗

I’m also slowly accumulating fiber equipment, starting with basic 1310nm optics. I’d like to work my way into a WDM test setup, maybe something like an ISP fiber ring with a wavelength add/drop at each node.

  • Any WDM optics (CWDM or DWDM) in 10G or faster, even single un-paired optics
  • Passive optical components (cwdm muxes, dwdm add/drop muxes, filter splitters) I don’t think I am ready for active optical components like amps and ROADMs since my distances are so short. But msg me!

Wireless Gear⌗

Similar to the Homelab ISP idea, any sort of wireless gear would be fun. I do love to setup networks for the fun of setting them up, and then not use them once it works, so don’t expect a long-running test platform

  • GSM (as long as it works with Osmocom)
  • WiMax
  • WiFi HaLow (900Mhz)
  • LiFi
  • Any other point to (multi)point setup would be cool
  • Anything optical (as long as it’s a pair!)
  • LTE

Computer Hardware⌗

I do love computers! Here are some things I’m particularly interested in, the more unique the better!

  • Obscure but still usable storage hardware (PCIe cache cards, etc.)
  • Mid 90s UNIX workstations (they are so beautiful) - even if they don’t work, I will 100% put them on my next filming set
  • If you have any other unique hardware you think might fit with the channel, feel free to email or message on Discord!