Ethan Walker

I spent the last 60 days installing, testing, and stress-testing 25 smart switches across three houses. One had a 1940s wiring harness with no neutral wires. Another was a brand-new build with every modern circuit available. The third sits in the middle – a 1998 colonial with mystery wiring behind every plate. After burning through … Read more

Our team spent 90 days testing the best mesh WiFi systems on the market, pushing 10 different models through real-world scenarios in homes ranging from 1,500 to 4,500 square feet. We measured throughput at 5, 25, and 50 feet, tested seamless roaming while walking between rooms, and ran 4K streams on 8 devices simultaneously. The … Read more

A sluggish internet connection can ruin a Netflix binge, drop you out of an online match, or freeze your video call at the worst possible moment. After spending weeks testing the best wifi routers across apartments, two-story homes, and busy smart-home setups, I learned that the right router does more than boost speed. It also … Read more

Looking for the best WiFi extenders to kill dead zones once and for all? I spent 60 days testing eight top-rated models in a 2,800 sq ft two-story home, a 1,200 sq ft apartment with thick plaster walls, and a basement office where my old router couldn’t push a single bar of signal. I ran … Read more

I spent the last three months testing garage door openers in real homes, on real doors, with real frustrations. After installing eight different units across two-car garages, heavy carriage-style doors, and a quiet attached garage next to a nursery, I have strong opinions about what separates the best garage door openers from the ones you’ll … Read more

I have been getting packages left on my porch for years, and after one too many “sorry we missed you” slips, I finally went down the smart garage rabbit hole. I installed four different controllers in my own garage and tested two more at a neighbor’s house, and the difference between a great smart garage … Read more

I still remember the look on my mom’s face when she saw her grandkids’ school photos rotating on a WiFi digital picture frame I sent her for her birthday. No more printing, no more scanning, no more dusty photo albums collecting mold in the basement. Just fresh memories appearing on her kitchen counter every morning. … Read more

I came home one Tuesday to find a half-eaten bag of cat food dragged across my kitchen floor. A raccoon had used my old flap door the night before, and my cat sat on the counter looking personally offended. That weekend I ordered my first smart pet door, and three years later I have tested … Read more

I still remember the 2 a.m. phone call from my neighbor telling me my kitchen was full of smoke. I was 600 miles away on a work trip, and my old ionization alarm had been dutifully beeping inside an empty house for hours. That was the week I started testing the best smart smoke detectors … Read more

Water damage is the second most common homeowners insurance claim in the United States, with the average incident costing over $11,000 in repairs. I learned this the hard way when a slow leak under my kitchen sink warped the hardwood floors across three rooms before I even noticed a problem. That single incident cost me … Read more