Drew Morrison is a hardware tinkerer and smart-home operator who has rebuilt more than one mesh after a move. He writes about Zigbee, Thread, Home Assistant, and IoT protocols as things that fail in apartments, not in diagrams. He cares about setups you can pack, restick, and still explain to a roommate.
Explainers
IoT
Networking
How the Internet of Things Actually Communicates—Protocols, Power, and Range
Drew Morrison
July 7, 2026
Digital Lifestyle
DIY & Maker Culture
How Home Automation Setups Break When You Move—And How to Build for Portability
Drew Morrison
July 7, 2026
Smart Home
Moving House With Home Assistant: What Actually Breaks and What Survives
Drew Morrison
April 8, 2026
Networking
Smart Home
Z-Wave 800 Series vs Zigbee 3.0 for US Homes: An Interference Reality Check
Drew Morrison
April 8, 2026
Networking
Smart Home
Thread Border Router Placement: Why One Bad Corner Tanks Your Whole Mesh
Drew Morrison
April 8, 2026
Smart Home
Zigbee Router Tables: Reading Network Maps Without Losing Your Mind
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home
Zigbee
Zigbee End Devices That Wake Too Often: Battery Drain Patterns Makers Miss
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Home Assistant
Smart Home
Self-Hosted Home Assistant Yellow vs Commercial Zigbee Hubs in 2026
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home
Zigbee Binding vs Automation Rules: When Direct Control Still Beats the Hub
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home
Zigbee
Zigbee Bindings and Direct Clusters: When Groups Aren't Enough
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Home Automation
Smart Home
Zigbee Source Routing: When Turning It Off Fixes Weird Dropouts
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home
Zigbee OTA Updates: Why Your Bulbs Lag Behind Security Patches
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home
Zigbee Green Power: Why Energy-Harvesting Sensors Still Vanish From Your Mesh
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home
Zigbee Network Healing: Why Smart Bulbs Drop Off After Power Blips
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
DIY & Maker Culture
Smart Home
Using a Raspberry Pi as a Zigbee Backup Coordinator (Failover Basics)
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home Networking
USB 3.0 and Zigbee: The Interference Pattern That Breaks Cheap Coordinators
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Home Networking
Smart Home
Zigbee and Wi-Fi Coexistence: Fixing Channel Bleed Without Replacing Your Router
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home
Zigbee Channel Planning: The Quiet Reason Your Smart Lights Still Lag
Drew Morrison
April 7, 2026
Smart Home Networking
Building a Budget Zigbee Mesh That Doesn't Drop Constantly
Drew Morrison
April 6, 2026
Smart Home Networking
Zigbee vs Thread vs Z-Wave in 2026: A Buyer's Honest Guide
Drew Morrison
April 6, 2026
Smart Home
What Matter 2.0 Would Need to Actually Fix Smart Home Interop
Drew Morrison
March 15, 2026
Smart Home
Why the Smart Home Matter Standard Is Still a Mess in 2026
Drew Morrison
March 15, 2026
DIY & Maker Culture
Smart Home
Why Smart Plugs Are the Unsung Hero of Home Automation
Drew Morrison
March 7, 2026
Smart Home
Why Your Smart Lock Might Be the Weakest Link in Your Home
Drew Morrison
March 7, 2026
DIY & Maker Culture
Smart Home
Why Your Smart Home's Zigbee Mesh Is Failing (And How to Fix It)
Drew Morrison
March 7, 2026
Gadgets & Consumer Tech
Smart Home
Why Smart Bulbs Became the Gateway to the Rest of Your Smart Home
Drew Morrison
March 7, 2026
Home Networking
Smart Home
Mesh Networking 101: Why Your Smart Home Might Need It
Drew Morrison
March 7, 2026
Smart Home
Why Your Smart Home Needs Offline Mode More Than Voice Control
Drew Morrison
March 7, 2026
Gadgets & Consumer Tech
Smart Home
Why Your Robot Vacuum Maps Your Home Better Than You Think
Drew Morrison
March 1, 2026
Gadgets & Consumer Tech
What the Smart Home Subscription Model Is Really Selling
Drew Morrison
February 26, 2026