Blog
Guides, reviews, ideas, and real experiences from a live smart home setup.
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Proton Drive, Docs, and Sheets Review: Is It Ready to Replace Google Drive?
Google Drive is convenient, free, and deeply integrated into everything but it also means Google can read every file you store there. Proton Drive offers the same cloud storage experience with end-to-end, zero-knowledge encryption baked in. I’ve been using it for photo backup, personal files, and Smart Home Secrets content. Here’s the honest review of…
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The Blueprint: How to Set Up a Cloudflare Tunnel for Home Assistant (Free, Secure Remote Access Without Port Forwarding)
Port forwarding your Home Assistant to the internet is a security risk most guides gloss over. Here’s how I replaced Nabu Casa remote access with a Cloudflare Tunnel for free, no open ports, and a foundation for locking things down even further with mTLS. Updated for Cloudflare’s current Zero Trust dashboard, which has changed significantly…
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Why I Switched My Entire Digital Life to Proton (And Brought My Whole Family With Me)
Already deep into your Home Assistant setup but still handing your email and passwords to Google? I made that same trade-off — until I didn’t. Here’s the honest story of why I moved my entire family to Proton, what it actually cost, what I gave up, and why the privacy-first mindset that drives a great…
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Be Smart About Your Smart Home: Why Backups Matter (And Why You Can’t Have Too Many)
You’ve spent months building your smart home — the automations, the integrations, the routines your family relies on without even realising it. But what happens when something fails? Brad Andrews shares why a layered Home Assistant backup strategy is the single most important thing you’re probably not doing properly yet.
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Proton Password Manager Review and Setup: A Password Manager Built for the Privacy-Conscious
I’ve used more password managers than most people know exist — TrueKey, PasswordBoss, Keeper, 1Password, PasswordState, Enpass, and now Proton Pass. Two years in, my whole family is on it. This is an honest review of what it gets right, where it still has gaps, and how it stacks up against the best alternatives.
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Home Assistant Zones & Geofencing: The Setup That Tells My Wife When the Kids Are at School
Zones are one of the simplest things in Home Assistant and one of the most useful. Once you set them up properly — with the right radius, the right conditions, and a couple of well-built automations — your phone becomes the trigger for things your family will actually notice. Here is how to do it…
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How SimpleLogin Works With Proton Mail (And Why You Need Both)
Most people think private email means a better inbox. It doesn’t. The real goal is control — over who has your address, what reaches you, and what happens when a company sells your data. Proton Mail gives you the encrypted inbox. SimpleLogin gives you the shield in front of it. This is how to set…
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How to Set Up Proton Mail With Your Own Domain (Step-by-Step)
Your email address is only truly yours if the domain is yours. This step-by-step guide walks you through setting up Proton Mail with a custom domain — from buying a domain and configuring Cloudflare DNS to adding your MX, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records correctly. Includes Cloudflare’s DMARC Management tool setup, a Gmail migration walkthrough…
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The Blueprint: How to Set Up Home Assistant From Scratch (The Last Smart Home Platform You’ll Ever Need)
Home Assistant is the most powerful smart home platform on the planet — and it’s free. This guide walks you through everything from choosing your hardware to installing HAOS, adding your first integration, and building your first automation. No developer background required. Just follow the blueprint.
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