Practical tips, how-to guides, and field notes on Wi-Fi, mesh networks, and home network security — from someone who has spent 20+ years in IT.
Browser ad blockers are useful but limited. They only work in supported browsers, only on the devices where they’re installed, and not on your phone’s apps, your smart TV, or any device that doesn’t support extensions.…
Read article →Your internet feels slower on weekday evenings. Or maybe it’s fine for most things but streaming video drags. Or your speed test shows 40 Mbps when you’re paying for 200 Mbps. The question that comes up:…
Read article →DNS is invisible when it works and baffling when it doesn’t. Most people have never thought about it. But it’s one of those settings — like your router placement — where making one small change can…
Read article →After spending time in the previous post laying out what each RV internet option actually is, let’s get to the comparison that matters: which one should you spend money on, and how do you decide? There’s…
Read article →A VPN on your phone protects your phone. A VPN app on your laptop protects your laptop. Neither one covers your smart TV, your gaming console, your smart home hub, or any other device that connects…
Read article →Most guides about crypto security focus on wallets, seed phrases, and exchange accounts. That’s the right starting point. But your home network is part of your security posture too, and it’s often the part that crypto…
Read article →Here’s a scenario that sounds unlikely until it isn’t: a security researcher in 2019 demonstrated that they could pivot from a vulnerable smart fish tank thermometer to the casino network it was connected to and extract…
Read article →The question comes up regularly, and I want to give you a straight answer rather than the usual paranoid “never use public Wi-Fi for anything” advice, which isn’t realistic, or the breezy “it’s fine, HTTPS protects…
Read article →There’s a list online — publicly available, regularly updated — that contains the factory default usernames and passwords for hundreds of router models. Admin/admin. Admin/password. User/1234. The specific defaults for Netgear, TP-Link, Linksys, Asus, and dozens…
Read article →Here’s something most people never think about: right now, while you’re reading this, there may be devices on your home Wi-Fi that you didn’t put there. Most of the time, that mystery device is just a…
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