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Practical home network security guides from an engineer with 4+ years supporting OPNsense, pfSense, Linux, and *BSD firewall/router deployments. No fluff. No upsells. Just answers.

May 2026 9 min read Skip Star

Utah's New VPN Law Hits Tomorrow and the Endgame Isn't Utah

Utah Senate Bill 73 takes effect May 6, 2026. The law itself is a dud. The trajectory it points at is not, and the VPN industry walked us right into it. A Gen-Xer's take on a chess match the VPN industry started.

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April 2026 10 min read Skip Star

The FBI Just Told 5,000 Americans Their Router Was Hacked by Russia. Is Yours Next?

Operation Masquerade: Russia's GRU hijacked 18,000 home routers to steal passwords and emails. The FBI had to hack your router to un-hack it. A Gen-Xer's take on what happened and what you can do about it.

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April 2026 8 min read Skip Star

Netgear Gets a Free Pass from the FCC Router Ban. Shocked? Nobody Over 40 Is.

The FCC banned foreign-made routers for "national security" then exempted Netgear, a company that manufactures everything in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand. Their stock jumped 17%. Here's what's really going on and what actual router security looks like.

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April 2026 12 min read Skip Star

OPNsense vs pfSense for Home Users in 2026

The definitive comparison from someone who's spent 4+ years supporting both. History, licensing, the PPPoE controversy, upstream contributions, and which one you should actually run. No punches pulled.

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April 2026 9 min read Skip Star

The FCC Banned Foreign Routers for "Security." They Didn't Secure a Single Router.

On March 23rd the FCC banned all new foreign-made consumer routers. But hundreds of millions of vulnerable routers are still in American homes. The ban is security theater. Here's what actually makes a router secure and what you can do about it.

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April 2026 7 min read Skip Star

Why Your ISP Router Is the Weakest Link in Your Home Network

71% of American households rent their router from their ISP. That's 90 million homes paying monthly for hardware that does almost nothing for their security. Here's what's actually going on inside that box and why it matters.

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