How-to

I recently wanted to watch a movie with a friend while keeping the noise down, and my Windows laptop only likes to send audio to one Bluetooth headset at a time. After some testing and a fair bit of trial and error, I found a few reliable ways to stream audio to multiple Bluetooth headphones from a single Windows PC — and importantly, how to keep the delay (latency) low so lips and sound stay in sync. Below I explain the approaches that worked...

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I’ve spent years running hands-on tests on routers, smart bulbs, cameras and every gadget in between — and one thing always becomes clear: you don’t have to trade off performance to get a secure home Wi‑Fi for smart devices. In this guide I’ll walk you through a pragmatic, step‑by‑step approach that hardens your network while keeping latency low, throughput high, and your smart home responsive.Why securing smart devices matters...

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I stream a lot from my Chromecast with Google TV — it’s compact, responsive, and the UI makes jumping between apps painless. But I also want my streaming to be private and free from obnoxious trackers and ads where possible. Over the years I’ve tried multiple approaches to run a VPN and adblocking on a Chromecast with Google TV, and in this guide I’ll walk you through the practical options I use, why I choose them, and how to...

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Buying a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S24 can be a smart way to get flagship performance without the flagship price—I've done it more than once when testing phones for Wcetesting Co. But “refurbished” covers a wide range of realities: dealer-refurbished with new parts and warranty, manufacturer-certified returns, or a phone that was lightly repaired and resold by a marketplace seller. To avoid ending up with hidden hardware problems, here's...

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Keeping a mixed Zigbee and Z‑Wave smart home healthy means keeping firmware up to date — but doing that manually across dozens of devices is a chore I actively avoid. Over the years I’ve tested setups on Home Assistant, Hubitat, SmartThings and a couple of vendor hubs, and I’ve learned a few practical patterns for safely enabling automatic firmware updates without bricking battery‑powered sensors or losing automations at the worst...

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I test a lot of laptops and tablets at Wcetesting Co, and one recurring theme I keep coming back to is batteries. Modern devices use lithium-ion (or lithium-polymer) cells that are incredibly energy-dense but also sensitive to how you treat them. Over the years I've developed practical routines that help me get more useful life — both day-to-day runtime and long-term cycle longevity — out of devices from Apple, Dell, Lenovo, Samsung and...

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I plan a lot of content — reviews, how-tos, and trend pieces — and over time I built a practical workflow that combines Notion as my single source of truth for ideas and editorial calendars with ChatGPT as a creative and execution engine. This system saves me hours each week, keeps the pipeline full, and makes it easy to hand off drafts or task lists to a collaborator. Below I’ll walk you through the exact setup I use, the automations I...

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Switching from the Apple ecosystem to Android felt like a small leap and a mini migration project the first time I did it. I remember juggling cables, cloud accounts and the nagging fear of losing years of messages and photos. Over several moves I've refined a repeatable process that keeps things intact — or at least gives you working equivalents quickly — so you can get on with using your new phone instead of noodling over what's missing....

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I use a Sonos Roam almost every day — at home, in the garden, and sometimes when I’m away from Wi‑Fi. Balancing the desire for best‑possible sound with a limited mobile data allowance is a challenge: the Roam is a brilliant tiny speaker, but its connection options (Wi‑Fi or Bluetooth) and the limits of mobile networks mean you have to be strategic to get the most from Spotify and any lossless audio you care about. Below I’ll walk...

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I’ve been testing continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices and their companion apps for years, and getting notifications right is one of those small-but-crucial tasks that can make life dramatically easier. The Dexcom G7 is a great sensor, but alerts are only useful if your phone and watch actually deliver them reliably. In this guide I’ll walk you, step-by-step, through setting up Dexcom G7 notifications on both Android and Apple...

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