Networking & smart home

By type

Most recommended

TailscaleRecommended for reaching home servers and devices from anywhere without opening ports, thanks to WireGuard-based NAT traversal and easy setup; critics question trusting a third party and its ACL defaults.809recommend
StarlinkRecommended for fast internet in rural, remote and developing areas, on flights and as backup, though critics cite space debris, astronomy interference and Musk's control.547recommend
Home AssistantA free, open-source smart home hub that runs locally without cloud subscriptions and integrates almost any device, though setup takes real tinkering and technical skill.298recommend
OpenWrtOpen-source router firmware that is highly flexible and seen as more secure than vendor firmware, though upgrades and finding exactly supported hardware revisions can be a headache.170recommend
Pi-holeA free, self-hosted DNS filter that blocks ads and tracking for every device on your home network, though it can break sites and apps, forcing whitelisting.136recommend
MeshtasticFree LoRa mesh messaging that works off-grid without SIMs or infrastructure and reaches long distances from good spots, though it congests and drops messages in busy areas.129recommend
Ubiquiti UniFiProsumer Wi-Fi access points and switches with central management, remote administration and optional self-hosting; critics cite buggy routing, IPv6 gaps, poor support and pain beyond standard setups.100recommend
Cloudflare TunnelRecommended for exposing home or self-hosted services to the internet without opening ports, even behind NAT, often for free; critics cite media streaming bans, 100MB upload limits and trusting Cloudflare.99recommend
Apple HomeViewA smart home control screen with multi-user Face ID, suited to kitchens and older relatives; critics say it duplicates a phone, and Siri and the Home app are weak.95recommend
LocalSendFree, open-source app for fast, account-free file transfers over a local network. Common caveat: devices often must share the same Wi-Fi.81recommend
HeadscaleFree open source self-hosted control server compatible with Tailscale clients, giving full control over your network, though it is not a complete drop-in replacement and can be finicky to set up.79recommend
MeshCoreRecommended for reliable, long-range LoRa text messaging that works well at scale; the most common caveat is limited adoption outside a few established areas.78recommend
OPNsenseFree FreeBSD-based firewall that people run for years with little maintenance. Common caveat: weaker hardware driver support than Linux, and a UI that can be maddening.71recommend
Reticulum network stackEncrypted, transport-agnostic network stack that runs over LoRa, WiFi, Bluetooth and more. The most common caveat is limited bandwidth and weak protection against abuse.70recommend
MikroTik routerRecommended for detailed control and strong performance per dollar, with a steep learning curve and a clumsy interface that suits people who already know networking.59recommend
Frigate NVRFree open-source NVR that runs object detection locally and works well with Home Assistant. Critics say it uses lots of CPU with many cameras and needs effort to set up.54recommend
ESPHomePeople recommend ESPHome for building custom smart home devices with online updates, logs and simple YAML configuration; the most common caveat is slow, heavy compiles.54recommend
GL.iNet travel routerSmall travel router that handles hotel captive portals, runs OpenWrt and reaches home services remotely; critics prefer re-flashing stock OpenWrt.54recommend
Philips HueOwners say Hue bulbs last many years, rarely fail, and work reliably with smart home systems. Critics say recent app updates require an account to control them.53recommend
Cloudflare DNSPeople recommend it as a fast, free, simple resolver that works reliably and is easy to set up. Critics distrust the company over US legal exposure and past blocking.52recommend
AdGuard HomeNetwork-wide DNS ad blocker people run at home so every device goes ad-free; the common caveat is that allow lists take a while to tune.48recommend
Unbound DNS resolverFree, open-source DNS resolver people run locally or on routers to cache lookups, block domains and avoid ISP tampering. Common caveat: setup and debugging can be clunky.45recommend
Amazon AlexaGood at timers, weather, lights and shopping by voice, and cheap with smart home gear. Critics say the newer LLM version is less reliable.45recommend
Google ChromecastCheap, simple way to cast media to any TV over HDMI. Critics say it has grown slower and less reliable over time.43recommend
Synology NASPeople recommend Synology NAS boxes for easy setup, reliable RAID and BTRFS data recovery, and years of trouble-free running. Critics most often cite restrictions on using non-Synology drives.39recommend
Timeframe e-paper dashboardPeople praise its calm, glanceable family calendar and weather on an unlit e-paper screen that cuts phone distraction. Critics say it is too expensive and needs manual calendar entry and ongoing upkeep.39recommend
PangolinSelf-hosted tunnel and reverse proxy that keeps home services off the public internet and replaces Cloudflare Tunnels. Critics say the enterprise edition is wrongly called open source.37recommend
SambaFree, long-running file sharing server that people use for Time Machine, LAN shares and simple, low-maintenance setups. Common caveat: flaky connections with macOS and iPhone clients.36recommend
Ubiquiti UniFi Travel RouterLets you bring your home network and WiFi to hotels, with built-in Teleport support, at about $80. Critics note it uses older Wi-Fi 5 and lacks SIM or eSIM support.35recommend
OpenWrt OneRecommended as fully supported open hardware that runs OpenWrt well out of the box. Main caveat: dual-band only, with no 6GHz and few ports.34recommend