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# Netgear EX6250 Review — 14 Months in a Portland Proxmox Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer In my testing of the **Netgear EX6250**, I found it to be an adequate budget repeater that struggles significantly with high-density IoT environments common in

# First Alert Z-Wave Smoke Detector Review — 180 Days in a Portland Proxmox Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer After running **First Alert Z-Wave Smoke Detectors** alongside my Zigbee2MQTT stack for six months on the second floor of our Portland craftsman

# Western Digital My Cloud EX2 Ultra Review vs QNAP TS-264: 180 Days in the Portland Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer After 180 days of live testing alongside a Synology DS923 Plus and four-node Proxmox cluster, the **Western Digital My Cloud

# GE CYNC Smart Bulb 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 six months of daily use on my four-node Proxmox cluster running Zigbee2MQTT with an Aeotec Z-Stick 7, the **GE CYNC Smart Bulb** is

# Sonoff S31 Smart Plug Review — 6 Months in a Portland Proxmox Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer The **Sonoff S31 Smart Plug** earns my recommendation for Linux-centric smart homes because it pairs instantly with Zigbee2MQTT on the ZBDongle-E and maintains

# Google Assistant Ecosystem 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 across the four-node Proxmox cluster and 24-bay Synology NAS ecosystem, the **Google Assistant ecosystem** proved superior for users prioritizing local-first automation with

# How to Reduce Projector Heat Output with WiFi Routers & Mesh Systems — 6 Months in the Portland Basement Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer After six months of continuous uptime on my four-node Proxmox cluster and testing over a hundred different

# Comelit Mini Handsfree Video Kit Review — 6 Months in a Portland Proxmox Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer The **Comelit Multi** system (referring to the kit’s integration capabilities) serves as a solid mid-tier intercom solution for multi-unit buildings that need

# Asus RT-AX86U with VPN Review — Six Months in a Portland Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer After six months of daily operation on my four-node Proxmox cluster, the **Asus RT-AX86U with VPN** proves to be an overqualified router for most

# Motorola MB8600 Review — 6 Months in a Portland Cable Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer The **Motorola MB8600** is the clear winner for anyone running a Linux-based smart home or needing strict VLAN isolation on their Proxmox cluster. In my