Homelab
Smart Home VLAN, Guest Wi-Fi, or Second SSID?
Smart-home isolation can improve security, but it can also break discovery, Matter, Thread border routers, casting, and app setup.
How Do You Make DNS Keep Working When the Internet Is Down?
Keep local DNS local. Your router, Pi-hole, AdGuard Home, Technitium, or internal resolver should answer local names without forwarding to the internet, and clients should have at least two reachable resolvers that.
Google Drive Is Not a Backup: What It Protects, and What It Does Not
Google Drive is useful sync and sharing, but it is not a full recovery plan for deletion, ransomware, account loss, or bad sync events.
Local-First Smart Home Without Becoming a Sysadmin
Build a smart home that keeps working when the internet is down without turning the house into a fragile homelab.
Cloudflare Tunnel vs Tailscale vs WireGuard vs NetBird: Which Remote Access Tool Fits?
Use Tailscale or NetBird for private device-to-device access, WireGuard when you want direct control and can manage keys and routing, and Cloudflare Tunnel when you need to publish a web app without.
The 3-2-1 Backup Rule in 2026: Keep It, But Add Two Checks
The classic backup rule still works, but modern homes need immutability, separate credentials, and tested restores.
Plex in 2026: What Still Works Free
A practical guide to what Plex still does without Plex Pass, where Remote Watch Pass matters, and when free local streaming is enough.
What Is the Safest Way to Expose One Self-Hosted App Publicly?
The safest path is usually to avoid public exposure unless the app truly needs it. If it does, isolate the app, put it behind a maintained reverse proxy or tunnel, require strong.
Back Up a Windows PC to a NAS Automatically
Set up automatic Windows backups to a NAS with the right method: file history, image backup, vendor agent, or a scripted archive.
Move from Plex to Jellyfin Without Losing Your Rollback Path
Move from Plex to Jellyfin with a read-only parallel run, exact inventory steps, client acceptance checks, and restore and rollback gates before cutover.