The other day I received a email from Monoprice lauding the arrival of its new $19 “Smart LED bulb… Works with Amazon Alexa & Google Assistant…“. Which is cheap for a single Wi-Fi enabled “smart” bulb, but it reminded me how wrong these sorts of home automation devices are. OK, that may be a little hyperbolic, but just a touch… […]
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When I was planning our Unifi Video camera deployment, having one of these 24V outdoor PoE switches would have been handy. The only complaint I have is that I would like it if it were 802.11af/at compatible instead of just 24V because it limits future expandability. But for $40, you can’t have everything… Featuring a weatherproof form factor, the NanoSwitch […]
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If you lusted after Yale’s key-free deadbolt after seeing our review, but were saddened by the lack of Nest compatibility. I have some good news for you – it’s not quite shipping, that will take around a month, but you can pre-order a Nest compatible YRD540 right now for $279. Oh, and if anyone knows how to say the name […]
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ABC’s new show Deception looked impressive from its trailer, with a seemingly high production value and a decent–if not overdone–premise. Add a pinch of The Mentalist, infuse it with Castle, bake in some magic, and you have a decent idea of what this new show is about. The question is whether the combination will work to draw in audiences every […]
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It’s been a while since we’ve seen a new Pi, but it was worth the wait as there’s a new model: Raspberry Pi 3 B+. Just in time for Pi day too :). The main features of interest are the vastly improved networking capabilities (802.11AC and Gigabit Ethernet), but there’s quite a bit more on tap as well. The spec’s […]
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One of the best decisions I made when we were moving back to the US was outfitting the new house with a Unifi Wi-Fi system. Pulling Cat6 through the walls wasn’t much fun, but having a dedicated enterprise access point per floor made all of those consumer wireless problems melt away (note to self, really need to finish up that […]
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Adding keyless entry to your home is a great way to enable access without requiring anyone to carry around a physical key. Whether that is a dog walker, your kids, or when you step out for a run. Having the option to provide a PIN code also makes it much easier to manage distribution and removes the risk of a […]
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Almost everyone carries around at least one Wi-Fi enable device nowadays, so having the ability to track devices that appear around your house – even if they aren’t on your network – is an interesting feature, and one that I have been waiting to play with on the Fingbox. Mine hasn’t collected anything that interesting yet, but I’m looking forward […]
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If you’re planning to put an Amazon Echo Dot and a home automation (HA) controllable light switch in every room, I guess I can see the value in the $99 Ecobee Switch+. But, I’m not convinced that I want to tie my home so tightly to the Amazon ecosystem, especially because in my experience the 3rd party Alexa experience kinda […]
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I bought an Xbox One S primarily to act as a UHD Blu-ray player for me, that also plays games for the kids. It hasn’t been an easy thing, and I’ve been meaning to do a “Xbox One S sucks…” write up for ages, just never got around to it. While that title would have been harsh, it actually works […]
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