5G Home Lab

Introduction

I wanted to put together a quick post on my setup for testing my 5G Network. This configuration pretty much stays the same and allows me to test from home or from my office. I will also touch on some other available equipment to help with different testing and projects. 

I have stated in previous posts I use two computers for my 5G network. Originally I had both srsRAN and Open5GS on the same laptop, but I wanted to test having a distributed network that I could connect over the internet and then control from my “working” laptop (my Macbook Pro). Probably not the most efficient to have three computers, but it lets me try different programs across multiple nodes and also lets me use multiple SDRs at once.

Remote 5GC Setup

I just got both the Leo Bodnar reference GPS and USRP B205-mini this week and so far am pleased with their performance. The reference GPS is easy to set up, there is both a Windows and mac program that interfaces with the unit to show its status.

Blurb on clock synchronization

I was actually watching a random video on YouTube last night that covered the importance of time synchronization when using reference clocks/GPS. You can check that video out here. The tool he uses in the video is available at https://www.desmos.com/calculator/sugmrhtu8r

Back to my 5G Lab setup

I have NordVPN running on all three computers, so I can access them via SSH wherever I have my working laptop. I use commercial UE with smartjac 5G Test SIMs or use srsUE with programmable USIM settings to match what I have configured in 5GC subscriber database.

If I only have my working laptop with me, I usually run srsUE remotely to interact with the 5G Network, otherwise, I use various commercial 5G UEs. Currently, I have a Motorola Moto G Power 5G for personal use.

I also have a bladeRF available if I want to use legacy srsRAN eNB/EPC/UE for 4G testing.

Local 5G Network Setup

When I am not working from home or if I have all of the equipment in one place, this is one of the configurations I use.

The B210 on the left is the gNB and is connected to the Silver Dell (under the black laptop in the bottom left). The B210 and reference GPS on the right are used for srsUE and are connected to the Beelink mini computer where I run the 5GCore. I was playing around with various antennas when I took the photo. The one pictured is a Panorama LP-IN2443.

Working Laptop

• iTerm2 for SSH
• Wireshark for pcap analysis
• Sublime text for log analysis
• GPS Clock Configuration for Leo Bodnar interface
• Spotify for listening to Slayer

Linux Laptops

Current list of packages I install on my Linux computers (not all are used for 5G Network)

• docker
• open5gs
• srsRAN_Project
• srsRAN_4G
• uhd
• bladeRF
• sublime text – https://wiki.debian.org/SublimeText
• nordvpn
• neovim – apt install neovim
• vim – apt install vim
• htop – apt install htop
• lshw – apt install lshw
• neofetch – apt install neofetch
• nmap – apt install nmap
• iperf – apt install iperf
• locate – apt install locate
• hwinfo – apt install hwinfo
• tree – apt install tree
• dnsutils – apt install dnsutils
• traceroute – apt install traceroute
• xrdp – apt install xrdp -y
• net-tools – apt install net-tools
• coreutils – apt install coreutils
• git – apt install git
• cockpit – apt install cockpit
• curl – apt install curl
• tcpdump – apt install tcpdump
• wireshark – apt install wireshark
• chromium – apt install chromium
• clang – apt install clang
• ufw – apt install ufw
• openssh-server – apt install openssh-server
• zsh – apt install zsh
• oh-my-zsh – wget https://github.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh/raw/master/tools/install.sh -O – | zsh
• powerlevel10k – git clone –depth=1 https://github.com/romkatv/powerlevel10k.git ~/powerlevel10k
  • auto-suggestions – git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-autosuggestions ${ZSH_CUSTOM:-~/.oh-my-zsh/custom}/plugins/zsh-autosuggestions
  • syntax-highlighting – git clone https://github.com/zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting.git

Other Equipment

• WiFi Testing & Networking
  • TP Link AXE7800 Tri Band WiFi 6E Router
  • TP Link RE815XE Mesh WiFi Range Extender
  • TP Link TL-MR3020 Pocket Router
  • TP Link AC600 Nano USB Wireless Network Adapter
  • Alfa AWUS036ACH
  • Netgear GS105 – 5 Port GB Ethernet Switch
• Computers
  • Macbook Pro M1 2021 (Working computer)
    • 16 GB RAM, 10 Core CPU
  • Dell Inspiron 14 7430 (gNB)
    • 16 GB RAM, 12 Core CPU
    • Debian 12
  • Microsoft Surface Pro 3
    • 32 GB RAM, 8 Core CPU
    • Arch Linux
  • Lenovo Yoga 6
    • 16 GB RAM, 8 Core CPU
    • Ubuntu

• Mini PCs
  • BeeLink SEi12 (5GC)
    • 16 GB RAM
    • Debian 11
  • Latte Panda Delta
    • 4 GB RAM, 4 Core CPU
  • Raspberry Pi 4 (x3)
    • 8 GB RAM, 4 Core CPU

• SDRs
  • USRP B210 (x2)
  • USRP B205 mini
  • BladeRF xA9
  • RTL-SDR RTL2832U v3
• RF
  • Assortment of antennas
  • SMA, TNC, BNC Connectors
  • SMA, TNC, BNC RF Cables
  • SMA Diplexer
  • SMA Splitters
  • Variable Attenuators