Category: Hardware
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Can You Reuse Your ZoneMaster ZoneSwitch V2 Dampers With a 24VAC Smart Zone Controller?
Replacing a Polyaire ZoneMaster ZoneSwitch V2 with a smart zone controller. Standard 24VAC OPEN / COMMON / CLOSE dampers can often be retained. Wiring and pinout must be verified first.
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Send Customers Straight to Your Product Reviews
A deep link opens a product page at the review section. Add #reviews to the product URL to build the link.
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Shelly Locked Out ESPHome — Why Your Smart Home Can’t Stay Uniform
Shelly Gen3 and Gen4 relays cannot run ESPHome. Gen1 and Gen2 models are gone from stores. Here is what you lose and what to buy instead.
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HVAC Zone Controller Compatibility Matrix: TekOnline vs Advantage Air, Polyaire & More
The TekOnline ZoneControl range works with most 24VAC ducted HVAC systems. This matrix compares the 4-Zone Wall Controller and 8-Zone Roof-Space Controller against three common Australian systems: Polyaire ZoneTouch, Advantage Air MyAir, and Advantage Air e-zone. Use this guide to check if the TekOnline controller fits your installation. Feature Comparison Feature TekOnline 4-Zone TekOnline 8-Zone…
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Custom Zone Labels for the 4-Zone Wall Controller
Print custom zone labels for the 4-Zone Wall Controller. The front faceplate now fits a Clipsal 2000 Series clip-on surround. Free SVG template for Inkscape. Step-by-step guide.
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Set IIS Site-Scoped Environment Variables for ASP.NET Core Applications
How to configure per-site environment variables in IIS that survive Web Deploy publishes. Covers appcmd, IIS Manager, and PowerShell. Includes real-world ASP.NET Core example.
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Ransomware Encrypted My Backups. The Second Backup Saved Everything.
A ransomware attack hit my homelab and encrypted every connected drive — including the primary backups. The only thing that saved years of data was a secondary offline backup that the attackers never touched. Here’s what happened, what I lost, what I kept, and the backup strategy every homelab needs.
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OpenCode Web Behind Authentik: AI Coding in Your Browser, Protected by SSO
Running AI coding tools as a web service usually means choosing between security and convenience. Here’s how to deploy OpenCode’s built-in web interface behind Authentik forward-auth — Docker, Tailscale, Nginx Proxy Manager, and Let’s Encrypt in one stack. No exposed ports, no shared passwords, every request validated before it touches the AI.
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How to Debug a Broken Web App: A Noob’s Guide to Token Hell
Settings page broken. JSON parse error. Redirect loop. Token issue. Here’s exactly how I traced a production bug from browser error to root cause, using nothing but curl, browser devtools, and patience. No guesswork — just methodical debugging.
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Zero-Budget Homelab: How to Experiment Without Breaking the Bank
Most of my ideas don’t make money. That’s the problem. I needed infrastructure to build web apps, test IoT devices, and self-host services — but I couldn’t justify spending anything until I knew an idea had legs. Here’s how I built a full homelab for near-zero cost using a single Dell OptiPlex, Hyper-V, pfSense, Docker,…