Planning guides for home projects, connected-home technology, and small workspaces. Use the filters below to browse by topic.
Showing 181–200 of 212 Smart Home & Tech guides · 20 per page
Smart Home & Tech · Wi-Fi and networking
Update the router on a calm day from its own update screen. On Halloween, restart once only if everything is offline. Leave the firewall on and the porch light on a switch.
Smart Home & Tech · Home office tech
Aim the camera at your door and top step, and keep it visible. Do not center the street, hide the camera, or post clips of people walking by.
Smart Home & Tech · Privacy and security
Keep an indoor chime you can hear, and lower an outdoor tone that carries to the next house. Do not mute the chime and rely on the phone.
Smart Home & Tech · Smart devices
Remove holiday shares, sitter codes, and seasonal devices. Change passwords that were exposed. Do not factory-reset the router or the lock.
Smart Home & Tech · Wi-Fi and networking
Keep an indoor smart strip indoors, under its printed watt maximum, plugged into the wall. Do not daisy-chain strips or cover a warm one.
Smart Home & Tech · Home office tech
Save a scene for extra lamps only, not the porch or stair lights. Test it once, and pause it when the seasonal plugs are stored.
Smart Home & Tech · Privacy and security
Use Ethernet for a livestream only when the cable stays off the walk. Do not open router ports. If the picture fails, stop the stream. The porch light stays on a switch.
Smart Home & Tech · Smart devices
Change default passwords on new décor devices, leave the firewall on, and do not forward ports. Remove the devices from the app when you pack them.
Smart Home & Tech · Wi-Fi and networking
If you travel, name a person who can reach the door. Share an expiring camera view of your own step, leave no candy bowl unattended, and do not forward a port.
Smart Home & Tech · Home office tech
Label the plug with the outlet and what it powers, and use the same name in the app. Do not open the breaker panel or write passwords on the tape.
Smart Home & Tech · Privacy and security
Leave the porch lamp on and aim any motion light at your own step. Do not shine it into a neighbor’s window or cover the lamp with cloth.
Smart Home & Tech · Smart devices
Unplug seasonal smart plugs and remove their schedules so a cord in a bin cannot turn on. Do not promise a dollar savings figure, and do not open the panel.
Smart Home & Tech · Wi-Fi and networking
Play one playlist on one device. Keep guests on the encrypted guest network, the speaker indoors, and the porch light on a switch.
Smart Home & Tech · Home office tech
Test the camera in daylight on your own door and step. A view of the street fails. Do not forward a port, and keep the porch lamp on after dark.
Smart Home & Tech · Smart devices
Set speaker quiet hours or unplug the speaker. Keep outdoor speakers inside, and do not mute the doorbell. This guide does not invent a legal cutoff time.
Smart Home & Tech · Wi-Fi and networking
Keep the access point indoors. Do not bag it, run a cable across the walk, or turn on an open network for the yard. The porch lamp stays on a switch.
Smart Home & Tech · Home office tech
You cannot prevent an outage. Keep the porch lamp on a switch, restart the router once if everything is down, and do not open the panel or turn Wi-Fi security off.
Smart Home & Tech · Privacy and security
If the smart lights die, use a flashlight or battery décor the label allows. Do not use candles, a car battery, or a generator in the garage, and do not backfeed an outlet.
Smart Home & Tech · Smart devices
Use either a smart plug or an outdoor timer for a light string, not both in a chain. The porch lamp stays on its switch.
Smart Home & Tech · Wi-Fi and networking
Test one video from the porch step. If it stalls, skip the outdoor screen. Keep mesh nodes indoors, and do not turn security off to stretch the signal.
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