# Rachio vs Hunter Hydrawise which wins — A Portland Home Lab Showdown *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer In my basement testing environment running a four-node Proxmox cluster with Home Assistant on the controller node, I found that **Hunter Hydrawise** offers superior local […]
Rachio vs Hunter Hydrawise which wins — A Portland Home Lab Showdown Read More »
# Meross Smart Garage Door Opener MSG100HK Review — Six Months of Home Lab Testing in Portland *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer After six months of daily use within my four-node Proxmox cluster and a crowded 2.4 GHz environment typical for basement living
# Aeotec Smart Home Hub Review — 6 Months in a Portland Proxmox Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer The **Aeotec Smart Home Hub** wins this comparison for users who want open source integration without the tax on price that Samsung imposes. In
Aeotec Smart Home Hub Review — 6 Months in a Portland Proxmox Lab Read More »
# Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 16 PoE vs Netgear GS724TPv2: The Network Engineer’s Verdict *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer If you need a budget-friendly switch for your IoT VLAN without breaking the bank, I recommend sticking with the Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 16
Ubiquiti UniFi Switch Lite 16 PoE vs Netgear GS724TPv2: The Network Engineer’s Verdict Read More »
# Synology DS723 Plus NAS 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 **Synology DSM** is an excellent entry point for users who want a dedicated file server without the complexity of managing raw Linux
Synology DS723 Plus NAS Review — 6 Months in a Portland Proxmox Home Lab Read More »
## Robot Vacuum Guide for Homes with Multiple Floor Types — 6 Months in a Portland Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer If you have a split-level house like mine or live in an apartment complex where the floor plan changes from
Best Robot Vacuums for Homes With Multiple Floor Types Read More »
# best Thermostat for Two Story Home 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 If you are running a two-story house where the upstairs and downstairs temperatures diverge by more than ten degrees, the **best
best Thermostat for Two Story Home Review — 6 Months in a Portland Proxmox Home Lab Read More »
# Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro Smart Lock Review — 6 Months in a Portland Home Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer The **Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro** is my current favorite Zigbee deadbolt for the **Home Assistant** ecosystem because it maintains sub-120 ms MQTT round-trip latency
Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro Smart Lock Review — 6 Months in a Portland Home Lab Read More »
# Google Nest Doorbell Wired 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 After running the **Google Nest Doorbell Wired** alongside the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 and several others on my four-node Proxmox cluster for
Google Nest Doorbell Wired Review — 6 Months in a Portland Proxmox Home Lab Read More »
# no Hub Required WiFi Only Smart Bulbs Review — 6 Months in the Portland Basement Lab *By Marcus Webb — 8 years enterprise network engineering, 6-year Portland home lab* ## The Short Answer In my testing of **no hub required WiFi only** smart lighting options across a four-node Proxmox cluster and Home Assistant instance,
no Hub Required WiFi Only Smart Bulbs Review — 6 Months in the Portland Basement Lab Read More »
