Hi r/homelab community,

I’ve been a longtime lurker here and have always admired the amazing setups and knowledge shared in this subreddit. Now, the time has come for me to begin building my own network that will also support a small family business, and I wanted to share my plan and get some feedback. I’m very new to all this networking and homelab stuff, so my plan might have some flaws and stuff that I didn't even think about - that’s why I’m here to ask for advice and feedback from the community.

I live in a building with 3 family apartments + a small family owned business(restaurant). This is our own building and I am building our own network.

What I have:

• Each apartment and the business receives exactly one Cat5e cable connecting back to a central network box. Unfortunately I don't have the chance to route more cables, so I need to make most use of what I have.
• In this box, I’ll have a MikroTik hEX router managing VLANs and firewall rules.
• A VLAN-capable switch will distribute traffic.
• I plan to isolate networks with VLANs like this:
  • VLAN Business: network + business AP
  • VLAN Ap3, Ap2, Ap1: Each corresponding to one family apartment
  • VLAN NVR: IP cameras VLAN connected to an NVR accessible by all families but not the business
  • VLAN sysadmin(not sure about this one): Management VLAN for admin devices

My goals are:

• Full isolation between business and family networks.
• Allow families to share resources like printers across VLANs if needed.
• Families can access IP cameras/NVR, but business cannot.
• Keep the setup secure, manageable, and budget-friendly.

I’m using mainly affordable equipment (MikroTik hEX router, budget smart or managed switch) because my budget is tight.

I included a basic network diagram to illustrate my plan.

I would appreciate if someone could review my VLAN approach and physical cabling strategy, suggest any improvements or potential pitfalls I might miss and also advise if I am oversimplifying or if certain equipment might be better despite budget constraints. Tips on making my network more resilient or easier to manage are very welcome!

Thanks in advance for any input! I’m excited to start this journey and learn from this community.