Networking

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An ASUS Wi-Fi 6E router placed on a box.
I assigned static IPs to my devices, and managing my network got much easier

Letting my router make all the decisions from the start was a mistake.

ITX PC tower on desk with warm light
4 PC storage and Wi-Fi mistakes I’m tired of seeing after 10 years of reviewing tech

It’s been a decade in the industry, and I still see people making the same mistakes.

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A Wi-Fi Extender 05
6 reasons your Wi-Fi extender is ruining your entire network

Whoever told you to buy a Wi-Fi extender owes you money now

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ASUS RT-BE96U Wi-Fi 7 Router
Don't suffer through dorm Wi-Fi—these 7 tools actually work

I wish I thought about any of these when I was still in college

TravelPi Raspberry Pi NAS outdoor close-up with iPhone Files app and PNY USB drives.
I built a battery-powered NAS I can take anywhere using a Raspberry Pi

Any attached drive becomes accessible from my phone or laptop.

Closeup of the self hosted internet status page reading The internet is fine and asking if the user is the problem with Router Pihole and Internet all showing Up.
I built a self-hosted internet status page so my family knows when the outage isn’t my fault

I'm not always to blame, just mostly.

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A USB Ethernet adapter on top of a Raspberry Pi 4.
The best homelab investment I made wasn't expensive—it was just simple

Moving critical services off a do-it-all server made the setup easier to maintain.

A Lenovo RD440 rack-mount server mounted to a 27U rack in a homelab.
Please stop exposing your home server to the internet (do this instead)

Your home server is "home" for a reason

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Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector between a laptop and a Nintendo DS with a Wi-Fi symbol.
This 21-year-old USB adapter was my first introduction to Wi-Fi, and it may have been yours, too

This Nintendo USB stick was my first Wi-Fi, and it turned your PC into a hotspot before that was even a thing.

Three IKEA smart plugs in a row.
I followed the most common Wi-Fi tip on the internet, and it cost me half my smart home

What seems like good advice can have unexpected consequences

Ethernet cables plugged into a Ubiquiti Flex Mini managed network switch.
My backpack network kit has saved me more time than any $3,000 diagnostic tool

This cheap and easy investment helps me figure out what's wrong with my internet

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Drive trays fanned out from the Ugreen iDX6011 Pro NAS showing the tool-free tray design and an installed hard drive.
My backups were killing my network—a dedicated VLAN fixed it overnight

My network was fast until the backups kicked in

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Laptop showing a personal budget in Excel.
Your work laptop may be snooping on your home network—here's how to stop it

Do you want your boss to see everything you're doing?

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Homelab office workstation with dual monitors, Flashforge Creator 5 Pro, and Bambu Lab P2S.
My 2026 homelab tour—UniFi routers, multiple NAS servers, and so much more

What began as one Plex server now supports my entire home

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TP-Link AX3000 travel router on a table.
Most people set up guest Wi-Fi wrong, and their router proves it

Don't trust the idea of a guest network without a second thought

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Cloudflare DNS homepage and Windows Ethernet settings displayed on a computer monitor.
I ditched my ISP's DNS to kill their tracking. Here's what actually changed

No DNS lookup data for you!

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A basic ISP-issued router.
Your router has a hidden dual-ISP mode that ISPs don't want you to find

This secret mode could help you get back online when your internet is down

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A close up of the Technicolor E31T2V1 modem from Spectrum Internet.
Your modem's firmware might be a privacy time bomb

Your firmware might be a problem, and you may not even be able to update it

A front view of the Unifi Dream Router 7 with the screen visible but turned off.
Your VLAN setup is one broken rule away from exposing your whole network

VLANs keep your network safe from untrustworthy devices, but the wrong setup can backfire

IKEA Inspelning smart plug with Christmas lights.
One old smart plug is undoing your entire Wi-Fi security upgrade

You may not even know how messy your Wi-Fi settings might be underneath the surface

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