# Second Life of an old Android Phone

A few years ago, I turned an aging Android phone into a low-power home server using Termux and proot. 
Despite running the full **arr stack*, *Vaultwarden*, *Ntfy* and more, it handled everything with ease, barely breaking a sweat.

I later upgraded to an N100 (welcome back, Docker!), but yesterday I decided to revisit the old setup: I hooked it up to a 20W solar panel placed behind a window. Now I’m curious—how long can it survive on solar alone? And how does it perform under a stress test while serving a static site?

Today’s smartphones are often discarded after a few years, even though they still have enough power to host blogs, personal servers, or federated services. 
If people knew what these devices could do, if they had the tools, skills, time and patience, would more of us repurpose them instead of trashing them?

And if manufacturers made it easier for older devices to live on, could we reduce e-waste and build a more sustainable, decentralized digital infrastructure?

A few years ago, I turned an aging Android phone into a low-power home server using Termux and proot. 
Despite running the full **arr stack*, *Vaultwarden*, *Ntfy* and more, it handled everything with ease, barely breaking a sweat.

I later upgraded to an N100 (welcome back, Docker!), but yesterday I decided to revisit the old setup: I hooked it up to a 20W solar panel placed behind a window. Now I’m curious—how long can it survive on solar alone? And how does it perform under a stress test while serving a static site?

Today’s smartphones are often discarded after a few years, even though they still have enough power to host blogs, personal servers, or federated services. 
If people knew what these devices could do, if they had the tools, skills, time and patience, would more of us repurpose them instead of trashing them?

And if manufacturers made it easier for older devices to live on, could we reduce e-waste and build a more sustainable, decentralized digital infrastructure?


=> /posts/communication-is-hard/index.gmi ← Newer: A clear message
=> /posts/today-i-met/index.gmi → Older: Today I Met...