Marcus Webb

Smart Sprinkler Controllers Review — Does It Really Save Water? In My Portland Home Lab

# Smart Sprinkler Controllers Review — Does It Really Save Water? In My Portland Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer The Rachio 3e Smart Sprinkler is the clear winner for water conservation in my basement testing because it enforces strict rain delay […]

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Checking Garage Status from Work Review — 6 Months in a Portland Home Lab

# Checking Garage Status from Work Review — 6 Months in a Portland Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer In my testing of smart garage door controllers for remote status checking, the **Ratgdo Smart Garage Door** won hands down because it runs

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Best Zigbee Coordinator for Home Assistant Review — 6 Months in a Portland Proxmox Lab

# Best Zigbee Coordinator for Home Assistant Review — 6 Months in a Portland Proxmox Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer After six months of daily use on my four-node Proxmox cluster and through two rounds of firmware updates, the Aeotec Z-Stick 7

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Managed vs Unmanaged Switch for Home Network — 6 Months in a Portland Proxmox Lab

# Managed vs Unmanaged Switch for Home Network — 6 Months in a Portland Proxmox Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer For the average smart home user living in an apartment complex like mine, unmanaged switches are often sufficient unless you need VLAN

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Terramaster F4-424 Pro Review — 30 Days in a Portland Home Lab

# Terramaster F4-424 Pro Review — 30 Days in a Portland Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer After running the **Terramaster F4-424 Pro** alongside my existing Synology DS923 Plus and QNAP TS-464 in a four-node Proxmox cluster for thirty days of continuous

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Roomba vs Roborock Which is Better Review — 6 Months in the Portland Home Lab

# Roomba vs Roborock Which is Better Review — 6 Months in the Portland Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer In my testing over six months of daily use on a four-node Proxmox cluster with a 24-bay Synology NAS DS3621+ running as

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Smart Thermostat That Works With Heat Pump Review — 6 Months in a Portland Home Lab

# Smart Thermostat That Works With Heat Pump Review — 6 Months in a Portland Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer After running the **smart thermostat that works with heat pump** alongside five other options across my four-node Proxmox cluster and 24-bay

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Video Doorbell That Works With Apple HomeKit Review — 6 Months in the Portland Basement Lab

# Video Doorbell That Works With Apple HomeKit Review — 6 Months in the Portland Basement Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer The video doorbell that works with Apple HomeKit is currently around $150 at major retailers and offers approximately 42ms round-trip latency

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Nanoleaf Essentials A19 Review vs Govee Smart Bulb — 6 Months in a Portland Home Lab

# Nanoleaf Essentials A19 Review vs Govee Smart Bulb — 6 Months in a Portland Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer The **Nanoleaf Essentials A19** is the clear winner for my local-first setup because it supports Zigbee and Z-Wave protocols that keep

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