Making the trek back home for the festive season? Take a moment to put your tech skills to good use by checking and tweaking a few settings around the house.

6 Check and Secure the Wi-Fi

An unsecured wireless network is a huge liability, even if you live in a relatively remote area. Sometimes routers are replaced (and often provided free of charge by ISPs), and not set up in a secure manner. This is one of the first things you should do after plugging in any new router.

You’ll know that the Wi-Fi isn’t secured if you don’t see the “padlock” symbol next to the network name on your devices. Another sign is being able to connect to a new network unchallenged. Remember that if you’ve connected to the network before, your device will probably remember the login.

Many wireless routers now broadcast multiple networks, so it’s worth taking a moment to make sure the right devices are connected to the right networks. The slower 2.4GHz network is great for older devices that don’t support the 5GHz band. It sacrifices speed for penetration, so it’s better for devices that are further away from the router.

Modern laptops, tablets, and smartphones can make good use of the 5GHz band. Take a look at the wireless settings and make sure everyone in the household knows which network to choose when setting up new devices. With internet speeds faster than ever, it’s very possible for a router to be a network speed bottleneck.

While we’re on the subject of network hardware, how is that router doing? Since routers are always on, they can burn out within a few years. This introduces problems like reduced reliability. Anyone at home will also miss out on benefits seen in newer models, like MU-MIMO for better device handling and faster transfer speeds.

Consider recommending or replacing the router yourself. Take a look at our best Wi-Fi routers roundup for some ideas. Keep hold of the old router and use it as a Wi-Fi range extender or network switch.

5 Replace and Upgrade Chargers

It’s been a hot minute since smartphone manufacturers included power adapters with new phones, and many never included anything beyond basic 5W wall adapters. These will charge devices, but they’ll drag their heels while doing it.

Replacing old power adapters with newer ones that can fast charge devices is a meaningful quality-of-life upgrade. Modern adapters will power more than just a smartphone, including laptops and even monitors.

Perhaps there’s already a faster charger in the house, like one that came with a laptop. Apple’s MacBook Air comes with a 30w USB-C power adapter that’s great for use with an iPhone. Let any household members know, if they don’t already, that they can use such a charger with smartphones for faster charge speeds.

On top of this, investing in a few power adapters with multiple outputs can make a big difference to daily charging routines. You probably don’t need to go full 300w Ugreen Nexode, but anything from 90 to 150w will allow multiple devices to be powered and fast charged simultaneously.

While you’re at it, consider adapting any old cables into more useful versions. Many are coming to terms with Apple’s transition from Lightning to USB-C, but you can get an adapter for newer iPhones.

4 Perform a Smart Home Audit

It’s totally normal for most of us to have a few smart home devices. You don’t even need to make a conscious decision to build a smart home to collect a few smart speakers, a video doorbell, or even a smart plug. But turning a connected house into a cohesive system takes a bit more effort.

Consider how you can combine existing smart home devices together. For example, setting up useful routines that can be triggered by voice commands could be a big help. If the household already has a few smart bulbs, creating a cinema routine or grouping the devices together into a room (if they aren’t already set up that way) is worth the effort.

You can then impress everyone by demonstrating commands like “Alexa, cinema mode” or “Alexa, turn off the living room lights” to showcase your handiwork. You can also make a few suggestions for future additions, like a smart bulb on the porch that turns on when a visitor is detected by the doorbell at night.

The same is true of other smart home gadgets like thermostats which can save money on energy bills. Make sure they’re set up in the most economical way (or consider pairing them with a few contact sensors), to get the most out of them.

3 Smarten Up the Smart TV

Smart TVs are notorious for their data collection practices. Most of these policies are enabled by default when the TV is first set up. They include automated content recognition (ACR) which literally tracks what you watch, habit and usage detection including which apps you use and when you turn the TV on, and voice assistant policies.

The good news is that you can opt out of data collection on most smart TVs. Since these options are buried deep within menus you’d never normally visit, there’s a good chance they’ve remained active since the TV was first turned on. Be a good samaritan and turn them off.

You might also want to tidy up the app drawer to make the TV more pleasant to use. LG’s webOS puts new app downloads at the very end of the stack, which you can fix by pressing and holding the “select” button and then moving items into place. Delete anything that isn’t in use or any preinstalled fluff that won’t ever be used.

Some TV remotes have customizable buttons, which you use as shortcuts for favorite streaming service apps. Consider setting these up, if they aren’t already. Unfortunately, you can’t do anything about the existing Netflix or Disney+ buttons, since manufacturers get a kickback for including them.

Lastly, and perhaps controversially, consider turning off motion smoothing. This is the enabled-by-default technology that makes all content look artificially smooth. It destroys the cinematic feeling of watching a movie at 24fps, and even introduces unsightly smoothing artifacts.

You should probably ask household members if they’re ok with you doing this first. Different TV manufacturers have different names for it: LG has TruMotion, Samsung uses Auto Motion Plus, Sony calls it Motionflow, Roku has Action Smoothing, and Vizio plays it straight with Smooth Motion Effect.

2 Identify Home Tech Improvements

It’s easy to get complacent with technology, we all do it. A classic example is how most smart TVs have relatively poor audio. The easy fix for this is an inexpensive soundbar. Until you mention this or point it out, the solution might not have seemed so obvious.

Sticking with sound for a moment, whole-home audio no longer requires fancy wired-in speaker systems. You can sprinkle a few smart speakers around the house and enjoy music or a podcast while pottering. A few cheap Echo, Nest, or HomePod mini speakers could go a long way.

Cable management can be another blind spot. We’re so used to seeing the mess of spaghetti behind the TV that we forget there’s a better way. Use power strips, velcro ties, sleeves, organizers, and more to hide the clutter. This is one of the cheapest home improvements you can do.

1 Update Everything

Last, but not least, make sure any pending updates and upgrades are applied. Security is the main concern here, but new features shouldn’t be ignored either.

Apple encourages but doesn’t force users to upgrade macOS, iOS, and iPadOS to the newest major version, but the upgrade is almost always worth it. Windows 10 support is ending in 2025, so now is a good time to see if it’s time to move on (or replace the device altogether).

Many wireless routers don’t automatically install updates, either. While you’re poking around the admin panel, install any software updates. My LG webOS TV doesn’t automatically install updates either, so I trigger these manually. Even streaming boxes like the Apple TV might need a little push.

Taking the time to do a bit of festive maintenance can help keep family members safe and help everyone get the most out of their tech. Just don’t spend your whole Christmas break fiddling with routers and smart speakers!