This morning, my dog Gus took his big furry head and gave me a solid nudge. He looked at me and then at his food bowl. “Mom,” he said (telepathically, natch). “The Wi-Fi on my pet feeder is borked. Again.”

Gus is a smart-home dog. He’s used to letting me know when his food didn’t dispense on schedule because his smart pet feeder dropped off the Wi-Fi network — and I’m accustomed to doing the reconnection dance that follows.

If you’ve owned any type of smart home gadget — smart plug, bulb, security camera, garage door controller, or pet feeder — you know the steps: figure out how to reset the device, get out your phone, open the app, navigate to its Wi-Fi settings, swap to your phone’s settings, join your Wi-Fi network, go back to the…

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