TerraMaster D4-320 vs ORICO USB-C HDD Dock: Which Storage Box?
4-bay USB 3.2 Gen 2 DAS versus a single-bay USB-C SATA dock: bays, 10Gbps vs 5Gbps, RAID reality, price, and when a dock is enough.
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189 reviews & guides.
PoE
PoE (IEEE 802.3af) is Type 1 Power over Ethernet: about 15.4 W at the switch or injector and about 12.95 W at the device after cable loss, enough for many VoIP phones, basic IP cams, and lighter APs.
Wake-on-LAN
Wake-on-LAN (WoL) is a NIC feature that lets a magic packet on the LAN power a sleeping or soft-off PC, mini PC, or NAS back on so you can reach it without pressing the power button.
SMB
SMB (Server Message Block) is the Windows-native network file-sharing protocol: clients mount shares like \\NAS\folder over TCP 445, and most home NAS boxes speak it so PCs and Macs can treat network storage like a local drive.
Wi-Fi 6E
Wi-Fi 6E is Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) plus the new 6 GHz band: wider clean channels, less congestion from older 2.4/5 GHz clients, and a clearer path to multi-gig wireless when your devices and AP both speak 6E.
PoE+
PoE+ (IEEE 802.3at) is Type 2 Power over Ethernet: about 30 W at the switch or injector and 25.5 W at the device after cable loss, enough for many Wi-Fi 6 APs, PTZ cameras, and VoIP phones.
WPA3
WPA3 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 3) is the current Wi-Fi security suite: SAE replaces the old PSK handshake, offline dictionary attacks get much harder, and Protected Management Frames plus optional 192-bit enterprise mode round out the upgrade from WPA2.
Best PoE Switches for a Home Lab in 2026
8-port and 10-port PoE+ / PoE++ picks for cameras, access points, and lab gear: Easy Smart vs managed, wattage budget vs camera count, and when multi-gig is worth it.
MoCA
MoCA (Multimedia over Coax Alliance) turns existing coax into a wired Ethernet path, with MoCA 2.5 commonly hitting about 2.5 Gbps between rooms that share the same coax plant.