I manage my ESP32 boards with this free self-hosted tool
…ESP32 gizmos, in particular, are useful for smart home nuts like yours truly, as they can be used for everything from Bluetooth proxies and e-ink dashboards to reliable network scanners and…
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The NAS feature I use every day isn't storage, it's Docker
…Sign in to your XDA account When I first started using my NAS, it was for the traditional use case — storage that I could access on my home network. However, with multiple…
The Pi Zero 2 W is the only Raspberry Pi that makes sense right now
…ESPHome and Home Assistant are a terrific combo for everything from simple automations involving different sensors to monitoring dashboards and weather stations. Since ESP32 boards also support wireless connectivity, they can serve…
Your old Android phone is a better thin client than most mini PCs
…Thin clients are the most underrated home lab hardware nobody considers Thin clients are only disappointing if you give them the wrong job Modern Android desktop mode is much than screen mirroring…
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Home Assistant's new dashboard editor cuts setup time from 20 minutes to seconds
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1w agoA single mini PC replaced my Raspberry Pi cluster and nearly cut my power use in half
…For an always-on home lab, one system wins anyway Lower friction matters more than theoretical hardware flexibility That said, the more practical my home lab became, the weaker the cluster argument…
My entire homelab runs on an 8-year-old laptop most people would throw away
…and are always visible on the dashboard. The trade-offs of running everything on old hardware Performance is “good enough”—until it isn’t A homelab server on an 8-year-old…
Proxmox gave me Home Assistant plus a NAS, media server, and backup system on one PC
…Home Assistant is a fairly lightweight service at the end of the day, so a bare metal install makes it a little overkill on most modern hardware. It definitely doesn't need…
I stopped treating my Raspberry Pi like a tiny server — and it finally clicked
…That usually happens when it has a single clear responsibility, such as running Pi-hole, Home Assistant, a lightweight dashboard, or a local backup helper. In those roles, it feels dependable in…
The FCC's router ban could make these router brands a risky bet in the future
…They are positioned as seamless smart home upgrades, and are deeply embedded in American homes, often tied into broader ecosystems like Alexa and Google Home . As such, their inclusion here also matters…
I turned an old Android phone into a home server, and it’s more useful than my Raspberry Pi
…02 / 8 Hardware One major advantage an old Android phone has over a Raspberry Pi as a home server is its built-in hardware feature. Which feature is that? A A dedicated…