John Carlsen has more than a decade of experience testing and reviewing home tech products, with a major focus on smart home security. He earned his BS in journalism from Utah Valley University. In ...

The wrong smart home setup can cost you a lot of time and money ...

At its most basic, smart home automation is simply a cause-and-effect relationship. Essentially, you're telling your smart ...

Trading all of your home tech and appliances in for smart home gear is supposed to make your life easier, automating tasks and making it possible for you to control everything with your phone. But ...

The smart home has come a long way since the days of clap-on lighting. Now that so many of the household items and appliances we use every day are equipped for Wi-Fi, people want more — the ability to ...

Imagine turning your old, “dumb” appliances into intelligent, Wi-Fi-enabled devices that respond to your voice, phone, or automation rules. Sounds futuristic, right? With the ESP8266 microcontroller, ...

I’ve spent years turning my house into a smart home. I have automated blinds, local-first security cameras, color-changing ...

If your smart home still feels more like a smart-ish home, make it your mission to make 2026 the year everything starts running as smoothly as it should. Between a genuine push by Big Tech to make the ...