When most people think of their LAN (Local Area Network) it's in the context of connecting your devices to the internet. However, your LAN doesn't actually have anything to do with the internet in particular.
It's a standalone network connecting all your devices within your home, and there are plenty of neat things you can do with this that doesn't use the internet at all.
Power devices over Ethernet with PoE
No ravens required
I don't know who needs to hear this, but you should probably be using more Ethernet in your home network. It's still the best way to connect any device to the network, and it takes strain off your Wi-Fi. But, Ethernet can do more than just shuttle data packets back and forth, you can also use it to transmit power.
The Ethernet standard allows for what's known as Power over Ethernet or PoE. By using a PoE switch and a receiving device that's designed to work with PoE, you can combine power and data into one slim cable. This is particularly good for smart home devices and security cameras.
It's not just about having one less wire per device to install. PoE also makes it easy to centralize power management. For example, if you have one PoE switch running all your cameras, you only need one backup power supply to keep them all running.
If you're a fan of Raspberry Pi single-board computers, there are also PoE splitter accessories that let you connect the Pi to the network and power it on wherever you've installed it.
Wake computers remotely with Wake-on-LAN
Wake me up before you go-go. Or later. It's fine.
A computer doesn't actually have to be fully powered on to listen for network packets. Using a network feature called Wake-on-Lan (WoL) a special network packet can be sent that does pretty much the same thing as waking the computer with a keystroke or pressing the power-on button.
All you have to do is enable Wake-on-Lan in Windows or the OS of your choice. Now you can, for example, use an app to turn a computer on your network on remotely.
Transfer massive files locally at full network speed
Home is where the bandwidth is
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Your home network is probably faster or as fast as your internet connection, if you're lucky. Most people, however, still have a faster LAN than internet connection, with Gigabit Ethernet and fast Wi-Fi being pretty common. That's a good thing, because there are more and more reasons to move large fields around locally rather than to and from the internet.
Some software now does this automatically. Steam, for example, will install a game's files from other computers on your LAN if at all possible. So only that first installation uses up internet bandwidth.
But if you set up a NAS or make network file shares available on your various PCs, you'll be glad you sprung for the faster LAN technology .
Run a local media streaming server
We shall call it LANflix
Most people have ditched their physical media and embraced online streaming, which frankly offers you the worst of all worlds. So it's no surprise that local media hosting is becoming more popular by the day. Using software like Plex or Jellyfin you can convert one of your computers (or a compatible NAS) into a media server. You provide the media files, and the platform handles things like metadata, user accounts, and keeping track of your viewing.
Host multiplayer games entirely on your network
This was what a LAN meant back in my day
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Can I tell you a secret? I hate modern online multiplayer. The idea of jumping into a game with a bunch of internet randos makes my skin crawl. But, back in the day LAN parties were my jam . I loaded my PC into the trunk of my dad's car, we all showed up at a friend's house, and we would play games like Diablo 2 or Quake from Friday night to Sunday night, often with very little sleep.
You can still do this with your LAN. While most modern games require an internet connection even when everyone's in the same room, classic LAN games haven't gone anywhere. So when the internet goes out, it's time to install some proper multiplayer titles and pass the time the right way.
Use network boot to start computers without local storage
Headless doesn't mean brainless
If you thought PoE was a neat trick, wait until you find out about PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) which allows a computer to boot from a network source instead of a local drive. This is pretty niche in a home environment and is mostly used by big companies to operate thin clients, but you can have some fun with it.
Again, a cool use for this is booting your Raspberry Pi or mini PCs from a network source. It's especially useful if you want to make changes to the boot image that needs to reflect on multiple computers at once.
Your own little net
This is really just the tip of the iceberg, and once you start digging into things like running a homelab you'll find that your humble router and connected gadgets are capable of so much more without needing a subscription or someone else's server to work.
