DEV Community: Janith Ranasinghe

Configure Wake on LAN

Janith Ranasinghe — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 12:18:29 +0000

Hey everyone 👋
Janith here. Today, let’s talk about Wake-On-LAN (WOL).

This post is for anyone who has ever had the idea of turning on their PC remotely. I recently set this up on my own machines, and while it worked perfectly on my Windows desktop, my old Ubuntu laptop taught me some important hardware lessons.

If you’re experimenting with homelabs or self-hosting, this is a really cool and useful thing to learn.

Why I Wanted Wake-on-LAN

My laptop isn’t in a place where I can access it quickly. Whenever I needed to turn on my server, I had to physically go to the laptop and press the power button.

And honestly… I’m a bit lazy 😄
That alone motivated me to look for a better solution.

My main goals were:

Access my homelab remotely
Avoid keeping machines powered on 24/7
Learn how low-level networking features work

Wake-on-LAN sounded perfect for this.

What Is Wake-on-LAN (WOL)?

Wake-on-LAN allows you to power on a computer by sending a special magic packet over the network.

There is another feature called Wake on WLAN which is a newer technology and available on newer pcs', where it allows the user to send the magic packet without requiring an Ethernet cable.

A few important requirements:

Wired Ethernet (Wi-Fi usually doesn’t work from shutdown).
BIOS/UEFI support
OS-level configuration

From my experience:

Desktops work very reliably
Older laptops often have limitations (Your Computer might not support WOL)

Enable Wake-on-LAN in BIOS / UEFI

Before touching the operating system, check the BIOS.

Steps:
Restart and enter BIOS (Del, F2, F10, or F12)
Look for options like:

Wake on LAN
Power On by LAN
Resume by PCI-E

Enable the option and save

Important note:
My Dell Inspiron 3542 laptop had no WOL option at all, which is very common for consumer laptops.

Windows Setup (Worked Perfectly for Me)

Configure the Network Adapter

Go to:
Device Manager → Network adapters → Ethernet adapter → Properties

Power Management tab

Allow this device to wake the computer
Only allow a magic packet to wake the computer

Advanced tab

Wake on Magic Packet → Enabled
Wake on Pattern Match → Enabled
Energy Efficient Ethernet → Disabled (if available)

Get the MAC Address

ipconfig /all

Look for the Physical Address of your Ethernet adapter.

Test It

Shut down the PC completely and send a WOL packet from your phone.
(you will have to find an app that does this. I use the app called Wake On Lan)

Result:
My Windows desktop woke up instantly every time.

Ubuntu / Linux Setup

I installed Ubuntu Server on an old laptop and configured WOL. Although the process wasn't successful, I will document the process i have followed.

The network card technically supported WOL, but the laptop hardware cut power during shutdown.

Install ethtool

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ethtool

Find your network interface:

ip link show

Mine was enp7s0.

Enable Wake-on-LAN

sudo ethtool -s enp7s0 wol g

Check support:

ethtool enp7s0

You should see something like:

Supports Wake-on: pumbg
Wake-on: g

Make It Persistent
Create a systemd service:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/wol.service

once the file opens:

[Unit]
Description=Enable Wake-on-LAN
[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/ethtool -s enp7s0 wol g
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable it:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now wol.service

Result

Works perfectly from suspend
Does not work from full shutdown (Should work if your pc supports WOL)
Ethernet LEDs turn off completely when powered down

Lesson learned:
Many older laptops remove power from the network card when shut down. Software can’t fix that.

You need to add your MAC address and your IP address into the app and keep the default settings.

MAC address
Broadcast IP (for example: 192.168.1.255)
Port: 9 or 7

Once configured, waking the machine takes a single tap.

Waking Over the Internet

There are two main approaches:

Port Forwarding (Not Recommended)

Forward UDP port 9
Works, but exposes your network to the internet

VPN (Recommended)

Set up WireGuard
Connect your phone to the VPN
Send the WOL packet as if you’re at home

This approach is safer and more reliable.

Troubleshooting Tips

Things I learned the hard way:

Ethernet LEDs staying on after shutdown is a good sign
Always test WOL locally first
Laptops work better from suspend than shutdown
Plug in the charger (some laptops disable WOL on battery)
A smart plug can be a simple fallback solution

Final Thoughts

Wake-on-LAN is incredibly useful once it works.

This is just another step toward my larger automation goals. My end goal is to set up a Home Assistant system where I can control all my smart devices from a centralized place.

I hope you learned something new, and I’ll be back with more cool stuff soon.

Thanks for reading 🙌
Happy learning!

Building a Home Server on a Zero Budget (No Raspberry Pi Needed)

Janith Ranasinghe — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 14:34:26 +0000

Hey everyone, 👋
Janith here. Today, let’s talk about home servers.

This post is for anyone who wants to build their own home server but doesn’t have the budget for a Raspberry Pi or other dedicated hardware. If you’re like me and enjoy experimenting, learning, and squeezing value out of old hardware, this guide is for you.

Why I Wanted a Home Server

I always wanted to try new things, and building a home server was one of them. My main goals were:

Centralize all my data in one place
Self-host useful services
Get rid of ads on my home network

Buying new hardware wasn’t an option for me, so I looked around and found a spare laptop that I hadn’t used in years. That became my server.

Hardware & OS Setup

I wiped the existing OS and installed Ubuntu Server LTS.

The installation process is pretty straightforward. For newcomers, I strongly recommend sticking to the default options unless you know exactly what you’re changing.

Initial Server Configuration

Once Ubuntu Server is installed, log in and do the following:

Enable SSH

SSH allows you to control your server remotely from another computer.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install openssh-server

After this, you can connect to your server from your main PC without needing a monitor or keyboard.

Assign a Static IP Address

By using a LAN cable with A static IP makes your life much easier.
Your server’s address won’t change, and SSH connections will always work.

Important Tip (Keyboard Layout)

The keyboard layout is more important than you think.

When selecting the keyboard layout during Ubuntu Server installation, make sure it matches your actual keyboard.

If the layout is wrong:

Some symbols will be mapped incorrectly
You may not be able to type your password properly (Special Character may not be mapped correctly)
SSH login can become a nightmare later.

First Service: Network-Wide Ad Blocking with Pi-hole

The very first service I installed was Pi-hole. Pi-hole works as a DNS-level ad blocker, meaning:

Ads are blocked for every device on your Wi-Fi
No browser extensions needed
Works on phones, TVs, tablets, and PCs

There are many community-maintained ad block lists available online, and you can easily add them to improve blocking effectiveness.

This single service made my home network feel cleaner and faster.

Media Server with Jellyfin

Next, I installed Jellyfin, an open-source media server. With Jellyfin:

Upload movies, TV shows, or music to your server
Access them from any device connected to your Wi-Fi
Watch content on phones, laptops, tablets, or smart TVs

It’s basically your own private, self-hosted Netflix - no subscriptions, no ads.

Optional but Powerful: Use Docker

For services like Pi-hole, Jellyfin, and n8n, Docker makes things easier:

Clean installations
Easy updates
Services stay isolated

Install Docker:

sudo apt install docker.io docker-compose -y

This is optional, but highly recommended as you add more services.

What’s Next?

I recently started using n8n, an automation tool that allows you to build powerful workflows and integrations.

In a future post, I’ll cover:

Why n8n is useful on a home server
Real-world automation examples
How I personally use it

Final Thoughts

You don’t need expensive hardware to learn or self-host.

An old laptop + Linux can:

Block ads network-wide
Stream media
Automate tasks

If you have unused hardware lying around, turn it into something useful and start learning.

Thanks for reading 🙌
Happy Learning!