The basic Ring Protect plan costs $40 per year (per device) and it appears to offer a bunch of nice features over and above not having a Ring subscription. But after shelling out hundreds of dollars on Ring devices, you might be forgiven for wondering whether you can skip paying the extra Protect fees too. … Read more
Even though they’re a less known member of the Wyze family, Wyze smart bulbs are gaining popularity. This is particularly among established Wyze users as it gives them the ability to control their smart cameras and lights from one central location – the Wyze app. But even the best-laid plans sometimes run into hiccups. Some … Read more
Smart homes are great, other than the fact that there are hundreds of devices from dozens of main manufacturers – leading to various incompatibilities and integration issues. While ‘smart hubs’ can help with this problem, they can only do so much. That’s why the Matter project is so important, which this video explains. I also … Read more
Home and Away is a Philips Hue feature that allows users to have smart devices turn on when they get home and turn off when they leave. This is one of the coolest smart features that users want to get up and running right away. The only problem is that this feature occasionally stops working. … Read more
Power over Ethernet involves using the multiple wire strands within an Ethernet cable to send both data and electrical power. This allows the end device to be fully powered by the Ethernet cable, whilst also having full internet connectivity without the need for WiFi. None of Nest’s cameras nor doorbells support power over Ethernet (without … Read more
Keen gardeners and botanists are often seen in movies with a bunch of red lights perched over their precious plants, to help them grow. Since smart bulbs can emit red light, can you use them for your plants? A lot of ‘off the shelf’ smart bulbs are not ideal for plant growth, but some smart … Read more
A smart plug allows you to bring old school electric devices into the 21st century. However, they’re nothing more than a power adapter if you can’t get them connected to your favorite smart home app. You can keep your Kasa smart plug connected to Alexa by first ensuring that the Wi-Fi network is on 2.4 … Read more
In this digital age, it’s becoming more common for people to listen to audiobooks as opposed to reading actual physical books. Couple with that the fact that most people are incredibly busy, and taking time to sit down and read is becoming less commonplace. Podcasts, with the wide variety of topics they cover, have also … Read more
Ring’s smart cameras and doorbells are supposed to give you near instant video so you can keep track of your home, but what happens when the pics and videos Ring cameras take are too distorted to see anything useful? Ring pictures and videos can be enhanced by first making sure you’re getting the best quality … Read more