Set up a private home phone network with an agent
A hobbyist bought a secondhand mini cell tower for about 50 CNY and had an AI agent set up the network software; they say it worked almost in one shot.
Done with Other
What they did
The poster bought a small home cell tower box (an LTE B40 femtocell) for about 50 CNY on the secondhand site XianYu. They also bought a programmable SIM card for 80 CNY on Taobao. They then had an AI agent set up Open5GS, free software that runs the heart of a mobile network. The result was a private cell network in their home lab.
How it went
The author says the setup worked almost in one shot. Next they plan to test how secure phone calling is on their network, and to try fixes for network lag.
Worth knowing
The author says agents let them explore a field outside their PhD topic without much time. The post gives no setup details, so expect to solve problems yourself.
Try it yourself
Help me set up a private LTE network in my home lab using Open5GS and my [femtocell model, band]. First, check what hardware and SIM/eUICC programming I need. Then install and configure Open5GS on [your Linux machine], set the network identifiers to [test PLMN], and connect the femtocell. Show me each config change before applying it. Explain how to verify that a phone attaches. Stay within test-network and local radio regulations.
Swap the highlighted [parts] for your own details.
Source: X · @yangyuc · Oct 15, 2026
Written with AI assistance from the original post and checked against our editorial guidelines. Results are as reported by the source, not independently verified.
