4 HDMI gadgets I wish I’d discovered a lot sooner
…The USB-C to HDMI connector Bringing the gaps for modern networks As I kept upgrading my workspace, my daily work laptop went in the exact opposite direction. It became thinner and…
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I stopped adding hardware to my home lab when I realized fewer moving parts meant more uptime
…I’ve been there, staring at mini PCs, Raspberry Pi boards, NAS bays, spare SSDs, and network adapters, convinced the next box would finally make the setup feel complete . It rarely works…
Your PC probably has an unused M.2 slot, and it's the cheapest upgrade available
…virtual machines on their home lab, can't afford to be bottlenecked by network bandwidth. A simple upgrade to an M.2 Ethernet card can elevate your system from decent to supercharged…
Your streaming stick is slower than it should be, and your router is to blame
…Though cheap, costing less than $50 for a 4K-capable streaming stick, these devices are sensitive to congested Wi-Fi networks. We're moving more and more devices to the wireless network…
Everyone talks about Cat5e, Cat6, and even Cat7, but what about Cat8?
…Unless you plan to run a 25GbE or 40GbE networking-equipped home lab, you don’t need it. Those already running a 10GbE network at home are better served by Optical DACs…
Your motherboard has hidden upgrade possibilities that you keep ignoring
…Sign in to your XDA account The motherboard isn't something you upgrade during the lifetime of your build. It's your PC's foundational platform, meant to enable other upgrades over…
I finally ditched Ubuntu Server after five years, and realized why Fedora's release cycle actually wins for production
…These woes are too common on Ubuntu upgrades. The upgrade process for Fedora is much simpler . Running dnf system-upgrade download --releasever=X is all you need; the process is mostly non…
My entire homelab runs on an 8-year-old laptop most people would throw away
…Pi-hole solved this by implementing ad-blocking at the network level and giving me full control over my network’s traffic. Setting these up was straightforward, similar to my other services…
The worst gaming GPU in your drawer might be your best home server upgrade
…Sign in to your XDA account If you've been lucky enough to go through a PC upgrade or two in the last few years, there's a good chance you have…
I bought a KVM-over-IP for my home lab, and I can't believe I waited this long
…That could be on your servers, or the network appliances, but all of it is easily configurable from a dedicated network that works whether that machine is on or not, and often…