The DVR is critical. And hardware DVRs I've used are horrible. Maybe I haven't tried the right one, but the ones I've tried are less than worthless and I've finally given up on them. I also despise the network specific apps for my devices. Some are great, but most are garbage and constantly require me to authenticate over and over again.

And the cost is not a major driver for me.

Need to do more than that: https://www.consumerreports.org/privacy/how-to-turn-off-smar...