@lcamtuf@infosec.exchange replying so I remember to come back and read the responses. I don't think my story will win, but the best I can think of was very early and bitch basic: I had a DSL connection at the time, which very frequently would hang up in a way that required the modem be power cycled. I had recently acquired a first-gen Raspberry Pi, so I went and bought a suitable relay, and wired it up under the Pi's control, so I could power cycle the modem from anywhere in the house. It worked great, for a few months, at which point we upgraded to a Cable connection that was much faster and stable. No great struggle, no deep insight, just using tech stuff to make life easier.