The Privacy Diet James Patrick

Start Here · My whole home · Your path

Secure my home network

The router, separate networks for guests and smart devices, and private DNS. Work down the list — each step builds on the ones above it.

Pick a different goal · Change device

Start here

  1. In the book

    Router hardening and segmentation

    The Privacy Diet · Chapter 7

  2. Compare

    Router Hardware

    Five ways to replace an ISP router, by difficulty and what each is best at.

  3. Compare

    Three-Zone Network Architecture

    Which devices belong on which network segment, and what each zone may reach.

  4. In the book

    DNS privacy and Pi-hole

    The Privacy Diet · Chapter 8

Run it yourself

Optional, and a bigger step: host it on a small server at home so the data never leaves your house. Do these in order — each one assumes the last.

  1. In the book

    Plan the server: threat model, hardware, networking

    Be Your Own Cloud · Chapters 1–4

    Decide whether self-hosting suits you before buying anything.

  2. Compare

    Self-Hosting Trade-offs

    What you gain against what you take on, stated plainly before you invest.

  3. Compare

    Homelab Hardware

    Six starting points by cost, power draw and what each is good for.

  4. Tutorial

    Installing Ubuntu Server for a Home Lab

    From USB stick to a headless, static-IP, auto-patching box you can SSH into — the machine every self-hosting guide assumes you already have.

    beginner⏱ 60 min

  5. Tutorial

    SSH: Key-Only Login and Sensible Hardening

    Turn off password authentication, lock down root, and stop the log noise — the twenty minutes that closes the most-attacked door on any server.

    beginner⏱ 25 min

  6. Tutorial

    Docker and Compose, Properly Installed

    The right repository, the docker group and what it actually grants, a Compose file you can read, and the update routine that keeps a homelab from rotting.

    intermediate⏱ 45 min

  7. In the book

    Storage

    Be Your Own Cloud · Chapter 7

  8. In the book

    Reverse proxy, HTTPS and local DNS

    Be Your Own Cloud · Chapter 8

  9. Tutorial

    Reverse Proxy and HTTPS, Set Up Once

    Chapter 8's Nginx Proxy Manager from empty folder to a trusted padlock: the shared proxy network, a DNS-only API token, one wildcard certificate for every service, and a way to test it all before Pi-hole exists.

    Every service page assumes this is done.

    intermediate⏱ 45 min

  10. In the book

    Secrets and .env files

    Be Your Own Cloud · Chapter 9

  11. In the book

    Pi-hole and Unbound

    Be Your Own Cloud · Chapter 10

  12. Tutorial

    Pi-hole + Unbound: Going Deeper

    Deploying Chapter 10's DNS stack step by step, proving Unbound is really doing the resolving, one record for every subdomain, and the IPv6 leak that quietly bypasses it.

    intermediate⏱ 60 min

  13. In the book

    VLANs

    Be Your Own Cloud · Chapter 24