Amazon Alexa and Google Home are great control centers to navigate your new smart home, but they aren't absolute necessities. Here are other ways to make your home smarter. John Carlsen has more than ...

Not another damn light bulb. That’s what you might be thinking if you’ve been following smart-home tech for the past decade or, indeed, building out your own fortress of missed connections. The first ...

Not sure how a smart home works or what kind of devices it needs? As a smart home expert, I'm breaking it all down. For more than 10 years Tyler has used his experience in smart home tech to craft how ...

As someone who grew up with a dial-up internet connection, I get anxious at the thought of any always-online product or service. My smart home is no different — I rely on it to automatically cool the ...

The Raspberry Pi might sound like dessert, but it's actually a credit card–sized computer changing the world of DIY tech. First launched in 2012 by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, it was designed to make ...

This security system is entry-level in every sense of the word, and it’s only appropriate to serve the most basic of security needs. I suppose if I was looking for a no-frills, absolutely basic ...

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 ...

Expensive upfront costs Fundamentally alters your home. There are a lot of different reasons why you might want a whole-home backup battery. Perhaps you lose power frequently. You might be expecting ...

We might earn a commission if you make a purchase through one of the links. The McClatchy Commerce Content team, which is independent from our newsroom, oversees this content. Whether you’re a tech ...