Appreciation post: My sister's comment about her smart speaker made me check all my devices

I was at my sister's place last weekend and she joked about how her smart speaker sometimes lights up when nobody has said its name. It got me thinking, so I went home and spent an hour checking every connected device in my house. I found three old smart plugs I forgot about that were still on factory default passwords. I changed them all to strong, unique ones and felt way better. It's crazy how one little offhand comment can make you realize you've been lazy about something so basic. Has anyone else done a full device audit lately and found something you forgot was even connected?

3 comments

3 Comments

garcia.jake9d ago

Man, I did the same thing last month. Found a smart bulb still using "password123" that I bought in 2017, which kind of proves @young.michael's point about old stuff hanging around.

walker.julia9d ago

Wait, THREE old plugs? That’s actually terrifying.

young.michael9d ago

Old plugs just show the place has been around a while and works fine. People get too worried about stuff that isn't broken. If the wiring behind them is good, what's the big deal? It's not like they're a safety hazard by themselves. Maybe we should chill out about cosmetic stuff.