How I Turned My Old Dell Into a Homelab

When I got my new ThinkPad, the question of what to do with my old Dell Inspiron came up quickly. The honest first thought was gaming rig — it can still run old titles just fine. But I went with the second option: homelab.

Setting up Proxmox on a laptop turned out to be more straightforward than I expected. The trickiest part was network connectivity — Proxmox works best on ethernet, not WiFi, so I ended up running an ethernet cable from a repeater to the laptop. It works perfectly and taught me early that homelabs require creative problem solving.

What started as a way to repurpose old hardware has turned into one of the most valuable learning environments I have. The homelab is where theory becomes instinct.