4 tips to improve your home entertainment set-up

4 tips to improve your home entertainment set-up

Your home entertainment set-up keeps you from getting bored, especially on cold, wet or dark days. It helps you keep up with the latest TV, watch movies and listen to your favourite music too. Whether you have a very modest set-up or you’re obsessed with AV tech, you can always do a few things to improve your home entertainment and make it better for you and your family. With just a couple of easy changes or upgrades, you can make your home entertainment set-up more secure, more convenient and more fun. Try these changes for some excellent improvements to your tech.

Smart TV icon

Make it smart

If you don’t already have a smart TV, you should think about getting one. A smart TV allows you to connect to the internet and benefit from all kinds of things, from streaming to games and online services. A smart TV definitely doesn’t have to be expensive, with a range of price points available. Of course, paying more could get you a better quality picture, better sound, and even a more reliable connection. Cheaper smart TVs might not last as long or have as many features. But you can still get a lot out of them, even if you don’t buy the most expensive TV on the market.

VPN icon

Keep it secure

If you’re making your home entertainment smarter, you should also think about keeping it secure. Anything that requires an internet connection could be vulnerable to being exploited in some way. Whether you’re using an Amazon Fire TV stick or streaming from your favourite streaming site, a VPN can be helpful to protect your private data. At Troypoint.com, you can find out about the benefits of using a VPN when you’re watching TV and movies. It could be useful when you’re streaming music too, as well as for other online activities. Visit here if you’re looking for a suitable VPN for China.

Home entertainment icon

Rearrange the layout

Changing the positioning of your home entertainment set-up can make it better too. This can include moving around not just your tech but also seating and other things. If you put your television at the right height, it will be more comfortable for you to watch it. By putting your speakers in the right position, you can get the best sound when you’re watching TV. You can experiment with where you put everything, but it’s also a good idea to find some guidelines online that suggest the best layouts for your set-up.

Surround sound icon

Perfect the sound

While the picture is important on your TV, you can’t neglect the sound. Everyone wants to have a crisp sound when they’re enjoying a movie or a show. Plus, if you have excellent audio, it can be good for listening to music too. You might want to upgrade to some quality speakers or even consider installing surround sound to get great quality audio at home. Make sure that you put your speakers in the right place too.

With an improved home entertainment set-up, you can prevent yourself and your family from getting bored at home and enjoy all the movies, TV and music you want.

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Price Points: Mesh wi-fi routers

Mesh wi-fi routers

Our old Welsh cottage is long & low and has very thick stone walls. This, added to the lack of fibre broadband in our rural setting, means that our internet connectivity leaves much to be desired.

As we work from home and run a predominantly internet-based business, connection speed & strength are extremely important. Sometimes, the sluggishness experienced when uploading, downloading and streaming can mean that tasks take twice as long as they should. We’ve been looking at available solutions; boosters, range extenders and mesh wi-fi routers.

BT is our current land-line and broadband provider, so their bundle seems like the best option for us. They even offer a selector tool to see which of their products would be most suitable.

However, we also have an Amazon Alexa set up; a little Echo Dot that works with our Sonos smart speaker system. As it’s produced by Amazon, the eero would slot straight into that seamlessly.

If you’re more of a Google smart home household, the Nest is an obvious and very attractive choice.

  1. BT Mini Whole Home wi-fi, pack of 3: £74.99, John Lewis

    Get rid of those wi-fi dead spots and stay connected to the strongest signal as you move around your home. Even with multiple devices connected you won’t lose speed. So stream, watch, share and download anywhere at home. Easy to set up straight out of the box. Our intelligent app will show you where to put the discs for the best connection.

  2. Google Nest wifi router: £149.00, Argos

    Nest Wifi is a scalable system that creates a mesh network, which helps deliver a consistently strong, reliable signal. Mesh Wi‑Fi can help provide more coverage than a traditional router by using multiple Wi‑Fi points together to create a connected system that gives you a strong signal throughout your home. Nest Wifi is a scalable system that gives both whole-home coverage and a consistently strong signal. Each Nest Wifi point is also a smart speaker with the Google Assistant. One Nest Wifi router with one Wifi point is strong enough to handle up to 200 connected devices and fast enough to stream multiple 4K videos at a time.

  3. Amazon eero Pro mesh wi-fi router/extender: £179.00, Amazon

    Tri-band speeds: the eero Pro mesh Wi-Fi router connects to your existing modem to bring up to 160 sq.m of fast, reliable Wi-Fi to your home. Works with your internet service provider: eero Pro connects with your modem to bring your existing internet connection to every corner of your home. Set up in minutes: the eero app walks you through setup and allows you to manage and control your network from anywhere. Gets better over time: automatic updates keep your network safe and secure. TrueMesh technology: eero Pro intelligently routes traffic to avoid congestion, buffering and loss of connection. Phones, computers, smart TVs, security cameras and everything else just works with eero. Since eero Pro works with Alexa and more, it’s the best choice for smart homes.

shop mesh wi-fi routers

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Prices & links correct at time of publication.

Amazon eero Pro mesh wi-fi router/extender
Amazon eero Pro mesh wi-fi router/extender
£179.00
Google Nest wifi router
Google Nest wifi router
£149.00
BT Mini Whole Home wi-fi, pack of 3
BT Mini Whole Home wi-fi, pack of 3
£74.99
Amazon eero Pro mesh wi-fi router/extender
Amazon eero Pro mesh wi-fi router/extender
£179.00
Google Nest wifi router
Google Nest wifi router
£149.00
BT Mini Whole Home wi-fi, pack of 3
BT Mini Whole Home wi-fi, pack of 3
£74.99
Amazon eero Pro mesh wi-fi router/extender
Amazon eero Pro mesh wi-fi router/extender
£179.00
Google Nest wifi router
Google Nest wifi router
£149.00
BT Mini Whole Home wi-fi, pack of 3
BT Mini Whole Home wi-fi, pack of 3
£74.99
Amazon eero Pro mesh wi-fi router/extender
Amazon eero Pro mesh wi-fi router/extender
£179.00
Google Nest wifi router
Google Nest wifi router
£149.00
BT Mini Whole Home wi-fi, pack of 3
BT Mini Whole Home wi-fi, pack of 3
£74.99
Amazon eero Pro mesh wi-fi router/extender
Amazon eero Pro mesh wi-fi router/extender
£179.00
Google Nest wifi router
Google Nest wifi router
£149.00
BT Mini Whole Home wi-fi, pack of 3
BT Mini Whole Home wi-fi, pack of 3
£74.99

Why now is the perfect time to make your home smarter

Why now is the perfect time to make your home smarter | H is for Home

Intrigued by the idea of a smart home? It seems that everyone’s jumping on the bandwagon at the moment. However, trying to make your home smarter has many benefits and is ideal for making your home greener, cleaner – and let’s face it – much more fun to manage!

With Black Friday and Cyber Week sales imminent, it’s the perfect time to invest in some smart tech for your home. Take a look at some of the benefits and get ready to transform your home.

Smart home device and smart phone

Why use smart home technology?

There are a lot of benefits that come with smart home technology. Having all of your lighting and heating accessible from your phone or computer can make it easier to cut down on your energy use, as well as make your home smarter for you.

You can put your lighting on cycles to get you ready in the mornings, or settle down in the evenings. Controlling your heating can be much simpler too, allowing you to turn off the heating if you’re going to be home late from work, as well as control different areas of your home. Explore 20 ways to upgrade your home with tech.

And let’s not forget the fun stuff! Virtual assistants like Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home are perfect for helping you find the right music and lighting to create a mood at home, or even help you with your shopping list. The great thing about smart technology is that you won’t know how you lived without it once it’s installed in your home!

Smart door security

Affordable ways to go smart

All of this technology sounds like it could get expensive, but there is smart home technology available for every budget. With the pre- and post-Christmas sales on the horizon, you can guarantee there’ll be some bargains on smart home items. From lighting to speaker systems, it’s worth keeping an eye out to see what savings are around.

Don’t forget that there are many items that are compatible with smart home systems. IKEA has a great set of gadgets for your home that offer great value and variety, allowing you to kit out your home for less.

Smart home thermostat

Smart homes and the environment

One of the best things about smart technology is that it can help you cut your energy use. By making smarter choices around lighting and heating, you’re not only helping the environment, but also saving yourself money too. If you’re looking at ways to make your home more eco-friendly, this could be one of the ways to do it.

Going smart is an exciting step to take for your home. By making the most of the best smart devices, you can make sure you have the right tools in place to enjoy your home more and feel more in control of your tech. Get connected and invest in smart technology and see the benefits it could bring to your home.

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5 high tech appliances for a cutting edge kitchen

5 high tech appliances for a cutting edge kitchen

We all dream of a kitchen that lives up to two main standards: an impressive look, and the level of ease that makes chores and everyday cooking a pleasure.

The five appliances detailed below are sure to tick both boxes – revolutionising your cooking experience, and impressing a few guests along the way.

Hello Egg kitchen assistant

Kitchen assistants

You’ve heard of the Amazon Echo – but here’s the kitchen equivalent. The Hello Egg is an AI-based kitchen assistant, helping to automate your food routines. Hello Egg has everything covered – from planning your weekly meals in line with dietary preferences, to supervising your pantry and providing step-by-step voice-navigated recipes.

The Hello Egg really is smart – it is able to adjust to unpredictable events, such as a surprise meal with a guest with specific dietary requirements. The egg can answer any questions as you cook – and if its cutting-edge artificial intelligence software doesn’t have the knowledge, the Hello Egg will contact a team of real-life culinary experts, who will deal with your query.

This extraordinary tech just might be your secret weapon for dinner party success.

The Dish Drawer™ by F&P

The Dish Drawer™

The Dish Drawer™ by F&P will revolutionise the way you wash dishes. Smooth and fully integrated with your own cabinetry, guests won’t know it’s there – this must-have appliance could mean you never wash another dish.

With a range of settings to tackle any job, and with Quick, Sanitise and Extra Dry options, this kitchen treasure achieves pristine performance at a low volume. Plus, the unique drawer design makes it easy to run a true half load – so lunch and dinner are always covered.

Sous Vide Tools set

Sous vide precision cooker

Sous vide is a relatively recent culinary development, so it is perhaps unsurprising that a range of high tech gadgets have recently sprung onto the market to support it.

The method involves cooking foods – especially meat – in a vacuum-sealed container, and at steadily controlled temperatures. This produces consistently tender results – and with a restaurant-quality finish, you’ll want to eat in more often.

Sous vide provides scientific, down-to-the-degree control, for the best steak you’ve ever eaten. For best results, you need the temperature control equipment that’s up to the task.

Sous Vide Tools have the complete set, with everything you need to cook these dishes to perfection. Beginners can pick up a precision cooker from Anova for under £100.

 

Induction cook-tops

This is the chic future of luxury cooking: no hobs, just worktop. The design is being introduced across a wide number of brands and comes as standard in many new homes.

The tech is an alternative to traditional gas or electric hobs, using magnetic forces to heat the pan directly – so the cook-top surface itself never gets scorching hot.

This unique technology is not only safer than traditional methods, it is also around 50% more efficient. You get an immediate response upon lowering the heat, and of course the sleek, ‘invisible’ look for a next generation kitchen.

Zip Hydrotap 5-in-1 tap

5 in 1 tap

The Zip Hydrotap is tap water like you’ve never known it. In 5 different settings, from boiling, to chilled and even filtered sparkling, this appliance will change the way you prepare drinks forever.

The tap comes with full colour, PIN-protected touch-screen control, as well as energy saving and safety modes – for a kitchen sink that will get people talking.

Add one (or all) of these devices to your space for a truly cutting edge kitchen to enjoy with family and friends.

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