The Commerce Department proposes banning TP-Link router sales over national security concerns about Chinese government access to American networks.

Don't buy this multi-outlet for its surge protection feature, as it won't warn you when it can no longer deliver it. TP-Link's Tapo Smart Wi-Fi Wall Outlet Extender has some great features, as well as one critical shortcoming that prevents us from recommending it. Tapo doesn't make big promises for this product in terms of its surge protection, but it does list a key feature on the box: the ability to warn you when it can no longer provide surge protection. The Tapo Smart Wi-Fi Wall Outlet Extender isn't all bad news--provided you're not buying it for surge protection. Most surge protectors use sacrificial MOVs (metal oxide varistors) to absorb excess voltage from power surges, and this one is no exception.

Installing a smart plug is the easiest and least expensive way to get a feel for how the technology can improve your life. Plug one into your wall, plug in a lamp or a small appliance into the smart plug, connect it to your home network with the manufacturer's mobile app, and you'll be ready to experience all the advantages hands-free control can bring. There's no special wiring required. You'll be able to operate your smart plug remotely with your smartphone, set up a lighting schedule, or program it to turn lights on and off in a random pattern when you're away from home. If your plug is compatible with a smart speaker--and every one worth buying will be--you can also control it with voice commands: Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri, depending on the device.

TP-Link's Tapo smart home ecosystem gained a host of new products at CES 2025, including new home security cameras, smart lighting products--including a bona fide NVR system. But if the recent stories about security flaws in TP-Link routers gives you pause, TP-Link assures us that there's no longer any connection between it--TP-Link Systems--and China's TP-Link Technologies. A TP-Link Systems spokesperson told us the company manufactures its products in Brazil and Vietnam, not China, and that it "owns its own factories, designs and manufactures its products, and controls its full supply chain." With that out of the way, let's talk about the new Tapo products, starting with home security. The Tapo PalmKey Smart Door Lock features palm-vein recognition technology that scans the intricate, unique patterns of veins in your hand.

Black Friday is a great time to pick up big-ticket items while they're deeply discounted, and robot vacuums fit that bill this year. It's not hard to drop hundreds on an autonomous dirt-sucker at any other time of the year, but Black Friday deals have discounted a bunch of our favorite models. Before snagging a deal, think about the type of home you have and how you'll use the machine: do you have carpet or mostly hard flooring? Do you have pets who shed constantly? Do you want a combo vacuum-and-mop machine?

Your first apartment after graduation is probably not your forever home, but you can make it something you're proud of with gadgets that do your bidding. You can automate your lights, keep an eye on your pets and clean up your floors more efficiently with relatively affordable devices that won't eat up too much of your paycheck. We've tried out a lot of smart home tech over the years and here's what we recommend for newbies and those with tight budgets. Think of the smart display as your smart home command center. This one works with Alexa, fits just about anywhere and is comparatively inexpensive.

TP-Link briefly teased its entry into robot vacuums at CES, but today the company released more detail on its first pair of budget-minded cleaning machines. The Tapo RV10 is a $250 vacuum / mop combo, while the Tapo RV10 Lite cuts the mop, doubles the dustbin size and saves you $20. Both models use gyroscope-based "zig-zag path planning," which the company says will clean your floor more efficiently than random-path vacuums. In addition, the machines offer four suction levels (quiet, standard, turbo and max) with a maximum of 2,000Pa suction power. They also include noise suppression to keep the sound as low as 53dB in quiet mode.

Earlier this year TP-Link launched its Tapo line of smart home devices that revolve around budget 2K security cameras, introducing several models ranging from $30 to $60. Now, the company has launched a pricier but more impressive indoor/outdoor 2K night vision security camera, the Tapo C40S2. The new model is battery-powered, weatherproofed and wire-free, offering up to 180 days on a charge in both indoor and outdoor environments. It packs an 850nm IR sensor, along with an f/1.6 aperture lens that allows it to see up to 49 feet in the dark, according to the company. With 2K resolution (2,048 x 1,080) a hair above Full HD, TP-Link promises "pristine images, even in low-light conditions." It also comes with AI features that allow it to distinguish between humans, pets, vehicles and packages, providing notifications when someone steps into the property or user-defined activity zones.

TP-Link has today announced an updated version of its Deco mesh networking gear that now has voice control, through Amazon Alexa. The Deco Voice X20 packs in a smart speaker in every satellite point that enables users to control the smart parts of their home without buying more Echo Dots. The two pack you can buy at retail is said to cover 4,000 square feet in WiFi 6, with truly "seamless roaming." The hardware is pretty interesting to look at, too, with a white cylinder floating on a hot-rod red base. Mesh networks rely upon gadgets being strewn around your home in prominent places, not hidden behind cupboards. In order to encourage this, device makers have both made their gear look better, but also do more to ensure that they find a place in your heart.

Amazon today announced the general availability of Multi-Capability Skills for Alexa, a way to combine smart home and custom Alexa apps into single, unified voice apps. Starting this week, developers can publish and maintain an Alexa app that enables both internet of things and third-party features for their devices, extending built-in smart home commands with custom voice interaction models to support nearly any feature without forcing customers to enable and invoke two separate apps. Before the advent of Multi-Capability Skills, Alexa developers had to publish and maintain multiple apps to enable custom features: a smart home app to leverage built-in smart home capabilities and a custom app to support capabilities not included in the Alexa smart home API. Now, they don't -- and customers don't have to remember two different app names. In this way, Multi-Capability Skills make it easier for developers to create better Alexa experiences.