A premium router might not have been at the top of your family’s wish list, but it’s essential for keeping those other new devices connected to the internet and running smoothly.

Think about all those gadgets in need of Wi-Fi, from smartphones and tablets to thermostats and refrigerators.

Sometimes the key to consistent speed requires some tech feng shui.

Here are some general rules to optimize your router placement and get the most out of your Wi-Fi.

While holiday shopping is taking up most of our time lately, it's important to take a moment to consider how secure your devices are.

This week included Computer Security Day which is great time to go over our five key steps for keeping your tech safe from our Geek Squad Agents.

So you are moving in to your new place and you are wondering if you can get by without that monthly cable bill. You aren't the only one - we run into cord cutters all the time and have plenty experience sending them down that path. Agent Gavin C. put together a couple of blog posts outlining an approach. Here's the first one.

The modern family home is more connected than ever to the Internet, and these days that includes everything from multiple computers, tablets, gaming systems, 4KTVs, even network-controlled lights and thermostats. Yet many households fail to realize their expanding collection of hardware – growing to an average of nearly eight connected devices each this year – strain home networks, producing sluggish connections and a real need to free their speed.

It’s been happening all over the country the last couple of weeks – parents wondering how to stay in touch with their kids now that they have left home for school or a job. Although it can feel scary at times, here are some tips on using tech to stay connected.

With the explosion of video content on the Web, many of us are using our computers, at least some of the time, to just watch TV.

Video sharing services like YouTube, Web broadcasting sites like Hulu and Netflix, and pay-for-play services like Amazon Prime and iTunes have made our computers a key source of video entertainment in the modern home.

Warning: it isn’t just your computer at risk from hackers. Some recently discovered issues with wireless routers from two different companies show that they too can be vulnerable to hacker exploits that can leave your data exposed to online evildoers. In one case, the affected routers allowed hackers to access data on the victim’s network, while in the other the router was used to distribute a self-replicating worm onto other users’ networks.

As the holiday shopping season ramps up, a lot of us are on the lookout for good deals on gifts for family and friends. With all the shopping available online these days, maximizing your gift budget is as easy as firing up your smartphone and hitting your favorite shopping site.

Mobile computing devices are letting us access the Web (and take care of business) from just about anywhere. Wireless technology now lets us pay our bills at the coffee shop, check our email while waiting for the kids after soccer practice, or take a conference call while getting our oil changed. Tablets and smartphones make it easy to manage our lives and stay in touch with the office while we are out and about.