Self-hosting starts with basic items and can evolve into a complex setup with the best possible hardware. The progression becomes necessary for a better overall experience and system responsiveness. Some projects can benefit from a cheaper yet functional alternative. When you think of a home network stack, you might think of an old laptop, network switches, or even enterprise servers. I won't deny that these components can deliver better performance.

When you sign up for a new 1Gbps fiber or cable internet package, you might not stop to look at your household ecosystem: smart home bulbs, streaming boxes, tablets, IoT gadgets, and background servers. Realistically, none of them really need, utilize, or physically process a gigabit of bandwidth during normal operation.

It’s not even October yet and Amazon is already offering some Prime Big Deal Day discounts on its own hardware, along with plenty of other popular products. It’s all to hype up October Prime Day, which starts October 6th at 3AM ET and lasts through 3AM ET on the 8th if you’re on the East Coast (12AM PT).October Prime Day offers a glimpse of deals that will likely be available again during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. So, with the holiday shopping season officially underway, you can get some of your shopping out of the way before things get busier as we approach the holidays.The most recent update to this post on October 3rd added a couple of Bose speakers, building on what was added on October 1st (a couple of Belkin deals, plus a discount on a capable 1440p USB-C monitor). This post will be updated ahead of October 6th as new deals become available.Bose SoundLink PlusWhile the Max is an awesome, powerful speaker, the Plus packs a ton of performance into a more portable form factor. It has an IP67 rating, and it’s easy to clean, too. Read our review.Where to Buy: $269 $179 at Amazon $269 $179 at Best Buy $269 $179 at BoseBose SoundLink MaxBose’s SoundLink Max improves on the smaller Flex with true stereo sound — and very powerful sound at that. It’s got a removable handle for easy transport, and there’s an aux input for playing audio when you want to listen at a higher quality than what Bluetooth can deliver. Read our review.Where to Buy: $399 $279 at Amazon $399 $279 at Best Buy $399 $279 at BoseBelkin Qi2.2 25W 2-in-1 foldable charging dockSlap a recent iPhone onto this charging pad and it’ll charge at fast 25W speeds. It can also charge AirPods, and includes a cord and wall adapter.Where to Buy: $60 $42.99 at Amazon $100 $75 at Amazon (w/ Apple Watch support)Belkin Charging Case for Nintendo Switch 2The case features an integrated power bank and a small pocket to stow an AirTag (or other similarly sized Bluetooth tracker).Where to Buy: $69.99 $59.49 at Amazon (in black or sand)Asus ProArt 27-inch 1440p USB-C monitorAn affordable color-accurate monitor that can easily connect to a MacBook or Windows machine that has USB-C video support. It’s a good price for a fully-featured 1440p monitor.Where to Buy: $299 $275 at AmazonBelkin MagSafe 15W 2-in-1 wireless charging dockA slick 2-in-1 charger that can charge your magnet-friendly iPhone or Pixel at a relatively speedy pace. Its extra charging pad supports AirPods, the Apple Watch, and other Qi-ready accessories.Where to Buy: $120 $59.99 at AmazonRing Battery Doorbell 2KAt more than half-off, the second-gen version is a good deal if you want 2K video and easy installation. However, its battery is built-in, so you’ll need to disconnect the doorbell to charge via USB-C.Where to Buy: $99.99 $39.99 at Amazon $99.99 $39.99 at Best BuyBissell ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet Pro Plus carpet cleanerBissell’s Little Green is handy, but doesn’t cut it for big jobs. If you have pets and a lot of carpet to clean, this is one of the most powerful upright carpet cleaners in its price range.Where to Buy: $279.99 $209.99 at Amazon $279.99 $209.99 at BissellRing Floodlight Cam 2KThis model requires wired power, and provides 2K resolution (with AI tuning) and 6x digital zoom. It’s bright (2,000 lumens), and provides a loud alarm if you need to use it.Where to Buy: $199.99 $99.99 at AmazonRing Battery Doorbell 4K ProThe highest-end battery-powered option of the lineup. It can record in 4K with 10x digital zoom, and its battery can be swapped for another as it recharges.Where to Buy: $249.99 $149.99 at Amazon $249.99 $149.99 at Best BuyAmazon Fire HD 8 tabletThe eight-inch tablet with lockscreen ads has 4GB RAM (respectable for streaming apps and mobile games), plus 64GB of storage and a microSD slot for viewing locally-stored media. This model doesn’t support Google Play Store, though it’s easy to sideload it.Where to Buy: $129.99 $79.99 at Amazon (4GB RAM, 64GB) $99.99 $54.99 at Best Buy (3GB RAM, 32GB)Ecovacs Deebot X12 OmniCycloneThe X12 OmniCyclone uses AI to identify and blast stains to help ensure they’re properly cleaned with minimal passes. It includes a dock, which empties the vac, washes its rolling mop with heated, pressurized water, and refills its reservoirs.Where to Buy: $1499.99 $799 at Amazon $1499.99 $841.99 at Best Buy $1499.99 $842 at EcovacsBlink Mini pan and tilt cameraThe panning and tilting accessory gives the Blink Mini some new powers, including 360-degree control via the Blink app. Also included is the camera, which is usually $25 by itself.Where to Buy: $39.99 $23.99 at Amazon $39.99 $23.99 at Best BuyAmazon Fire TV Stick 4K PlusThe latest version of Amazon’s zippy Fire TV Stick 4K streams in 4K resolution, as its name suggests, and features support for Wi-Fi 6, Dolby Atmos / Vision, and HDR10 Plus.Where to Buy: $69.99 $37.99 at Amazon $69.99 $37.99 at Best BuyAmazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2023, latest model)Amazon’s highest-end streaming stick supports Wi-Fi 6E and offers double the storage of its predecessor. It also displays widgets and artwork when idle, while continuing to offer a terrific selection of streaming apps. Plus, it runs on the new and improved Fire TV OS, which makes it easier to find something to watch.Where to Buy: $84.99 $44.99 at Amazon $84.99 $44.99 at Best BuyAmazon Fire TV Cube (2022, latest model)The hybrid Echo and Fire TV is faster than its predecessor with extensive hands-free voice control capabilities, support for Wi-Fi 6E, and excellent performance. Read our review.Where to Buy: $199.99 $89.99 at Amazon $199.99 $89.99 at Best BuyAmazon Echo SpotAmazon’s smart speaker-meets-alarm clock has a 2.83-inch squared-off display for showing the time, weather, album art, and other bits of info you may want at your bedside. Unlike the original, there’s no camera to worry about having in your bedroom — though it does have a mutable mic for Alexa voice controls. Read our review.Where to Buy: $109.99 $54.99 at Amazon $109.99 $54.99 at Best Buy $109.99 $54.99 at TargetAmazon Echo Dot MaxThe Echo Dot Max is an elegant redesign of Amazon’s orb-shaped smart speaker, with high-quality knit fabric, a flat face, a new LED ring, and touch controls. It’s the first Echo Dot with Amazon’s improved two-way speaker system and support for its new AI-powered assistant, Alexa Plus, which is enabled out of the box.Where to Buy: $119.99 $79.99 at Amazon $119.99 $79.99 at Best Buy $119.99 $79.99 at TargetAmazon Echo Dot (Fifth-Gen)Amazon’s Echo Dot is an affordable way to add a smart speaker to your space. The small, powerful speaker offers surprisingly robust sound, and it’s great for controlling smart home devices, including those compatible with Matter. The Dot also offers faster response times than its predecessor, and it can act as an extender for an Eero Wi-Fi system. Read our review.Where to Buy: $79.99 $39.99 at Amazon $79.99 $39.99 at Best Buy $79.99 $39.99 at TargetAmazon Echo Show 11 (2025)The Echo Show 11 features an 11-inch screen and 1080p resolution. It includes Alexa Plus and can be used as a smart home hub with support Thread, Matter, and Zigbee smart home protocols. Read our review.Where to Buy: $249.99 $149.99 at Amazon $249.99 $149.99 at Best Buy $249.99 $149.99 at TargetAmazon Echo Show 15The new year is the perfect time to reset your routines and get organized, and the Echo Show 15 is a great tool for doing just that. Designed to function as a shared household hub, it keeps calendars, schedules, reminders, to-do lists, and notes visible at a glance, making it easier to keep on top of things. As an Alexa-enabled smart display, you can also add events by voice and control compatible smart home devices.Where to Buy: $349.99 $249.99 at Amazon $349.99 $249.99 at Best Buy $349.99 $249.99 at TargetEero Pro 6E tri-band routerEero’s Pro 6E mesh router is the Amazon-owned company’s last-gen model. It supports the 6GHz Wi-Fi band with speeds of up to 1.3Gbps and covers up to 2,000 square feet with one unit. Wired speeds can go up to 2.5Gbps. Read our review.Where to Buy: $199.99 $149.99 at Amazon (single pack) $499.99 $374.99 at Best Buy (three-pack) $499.99 $374.99 at Amazon (three-pack)Samsung 32-inch Movingstyle smart displaySimilar to LG’s rollable StanbyME display, the Movingstyle Essential is a 32-inch 4K display on a base that’s height-adjustable (and supports swiveling, pivoting and tilting). Unlike LG’s model, though, this one has no built-in battery.Where to Buy: $699.99 $499.99 at AmazonDreame X50 UltraWith high suction power, an improved brush system, and the ability to scale thresholds up to 6cm, the X50 Ultra stands out as a great robot vacuum and mop hybrid.Where to Buy: $1099.99 $899.99 at Amazon (for Prime members) $1099.99 $849.99 at Dreame (with free account)

Amazon recently bumped the price of the Fire TV Cube to $200. That change came quietly in August: the device, which once retailed for $140, suddenly saw a $60 price increase while still offering the same basic hardware. I was particularly shocked by this increase, although I shouldn't say it was that unexpected because RAMageddon has been affecting every industry that uses memory technology.

For most people, the M.2 slot on the motherboard is synonymous with NVMe SSDs. After all, that is the most common thing people install in their M.2 slots. However, it wasn't made for SSDs exclusively; it was meant to accommodate high-speed as well as low-speed devices. The latter is where non-SSD expansion cards come into the picture.

David Robinson used to write the safety reports that accompanied every major model release at OpenAI. This week, he resigned from his position and is now speaking out in an editorial in The Atlantic.It's understandable if you're feeling a bit cynical about everyone suddenly coming out of the woodwork to warn about how dangerous the thing they helped build is. They did, after all, make this mess. But that doesn't mean we should discount their warnings. Robinson says that the culture in industry is fundamentally broken. That this is a deeper issue than simply slapping a few new rules or regulations on how we handle training models. Silicon …Read the full story at The Verge.

Capcom's Pragmata might be all about the horrors of AI, but in practice the studio doesn't seem so down on the tech. During the Capcom Open Conference RE: 2026 programmer Satoshi Ishida gave a presentation with the mouthful of a title: "The Outlook and Future of the REX Project, Further Evolving the RE Engine for the Next Generation." During the talk he laid out the challenges facing studios producing games at the scale of Resident Evil, which can make even simple tasks extremely time consuming. The solution Ishida said is "successfully integrating AI technology into development workflows."Capcom has said previously that it will not use AI …Read the full story at The Verge.

While my bank already hated to see Apple Music, Spotify, Canva, Adobe Creative Cloud, iCloud+, Google One, Netflix, and about half a dozen other subscriptions coming every month, I know AI tools have made an already existing problem significantly worse. Now, practically every AI tool I use wants its own cut too. Claude Max, ChatGPT Plus, Google AI Pro, Perplexity Pro, Cursor Pro, and so on.

Kakul Srivastava is the CEO of Splice, the sample platform countless producers rely on for one-shots and melodic loops. Samples pulled from the service have found their way into massive hits like Lisa's "Money" and "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter. (The original samples are here and here, for the curious.)Before that, Kakul held executive roles at Flickr, Yahoo, GitHub, and Adobe. Throughout her career, Kakul has found herself at the intersection of Silicon Valley and creatives. That's been especially true at Splice, where she's not just expanded the platform's footprint by acquiring Spitfire Audio, but also overseen its forays into the wor …Read the full story at The Verge.

Most people reach for Claude Code first, and for good reason, since it's the dominant agent. The catch is the usage limits. Every paid plan draws from a single pool shared by Claude chat, Claude Code, and Claude Design, so going hard in one of them chips away at the others. Once that pool's empty, you either sit tight until the reset or pay standard API rates on top of what you're already paying for the subscription.

There's a lot to love about Google TV — it supports a wide variety of apps, it has some nifty features, and it performs relatively well on affordable devices. However, the platform also has drawbacks, especially with its home screen.

15 years ago, I ran Windows Home Server on an HP MicroServer for reasons I can't fathom now. As I've done more with self-hosted media, my library has kept growing, along with my storage needs. Storage isn't cheap, and neither is a new NAS. I stumbled across that old server and thought, there's probably still some life in it if I repurpose it as a dumb NAS for a few files.