Buying guides
Which one, for the network you actually have
A hub compares everything in a family. A guide answers one question — a budget, a first NAS for someone who has never run one, what a flat with thick walls needs before a faster router — with a ranked shortlist and a reason for the order.
- First mesh system
A first mesh system for a home the signal will not cross
Solid walls, a long footprint or a converted loft defeat a single router. Which mesh packs are worth shortlisting, judged on backhaul, band plan and port speeds rather than on the digits after AX.
- Router upgrade
Replacing the router your provider left, and knowing whether you should
Which Wi-Fi routers are worth shortlisting when the provider’s box is the weak link, judged on WAN and LAN port speeds, band plan and published update policy rather than on a class number.
- Access points
Access points for a house that already has cable in the walls
Where an Ethernet outlet exists, an access point beats a mesh node on noise, mounting and cost. Which units to shortlist, judged on the PoE type they require, uplink speed and how they are managed.
- Extenders & powerline
Extending coverage where no cable can be run
Repeaters relay over the air and pay in airtime; powerline adapters depend on the mains circuits between two sockets. What each is honestly good for, and which units are worth shortlisting.
- Home switch
Choosing a switch for the ports you will actually fill
Managed or unmanaged, gigabit or multi-gigabit, fanless or not: the four decisions behind a home switch, and which units are worth shortlisting once you know which four answers you need.
- PoE switches
A PoE switch that will actually power what you plug into it
Type 1, Type 2 and Type 4, per-port wattage against the total budget, and the difference between a switch with PoE ports and a switch that can run them all at once. Which units to shortlist.
- First NAS
A first NAS enclosure, chosen on bays before terabytes
Bay count, the software you will live in daily, port speed, noise and what a redundancy level does and does not cover. Which enclosures to shortlist for a household’s first shared storage.
- NAS drives
Drives for an enclosure that never gets switched off
Workload ratings, continuous-operation figures, recording method and vibration tolerance: the published specifications that describe what a NAS asks of a drive, and which drives to shortlist.
- SSD upgrade
Putting solid-state into a machine you already own
Which socket your machine actually has, why 2280 is a measurement and not an interface, and when a SATA drive is the right answer. NVMe and SATA drives worth shortlisting for an upgrade.
- Portable SSD
A portable SSD for work that moves between machines
Host port and cable, the sustained rate rather than the burst, encryption you can actually use on every machine, and what the ingress rating on a rugged case really covers.
- Second copy
The drive that holds the copy you would actually miss
External or internal, one drive or two rotated, and how to choose a copy target on the things that matter for it: capacity headroom, connection, noise and whether it can be unplugged.
- UPS
A UPS for the router and the storage box, sized on the load you actually have
Volt-amperes are not watts, runtime is a curve rather than a number, and the signalling cable is what makes the whole thing useful. How to size and choose an uninterruptible supply for home equipment.
- Cabling kit
The kit for terminating your own runs, and the one part not to economise on
Cable, modules, plugs, a crimping tool and a tester: what each part has to match, why plugs and cable have to be bought together, and which items are worth shortlisting.
- Faster adapters
Getting one machine onto a faster link, without replacing the machine
PCIe cards, USB adapters and pluggable optical modules compared on what each actually needs from the host — lane count, port generation, and a module the switch will accept.