Your home now has about 24 connected devices — how do you find and secure the TVs, plugs and gadgets you forgot about?

Bitdefender and NETGEAR’s 2026 IoT report puts the average home at 24 connected devices. Smart TVs, smart plugs and network storage account for about two-thirds of vulnerability observations — here is a router-list audit to find and secure them.

You count your phone, laptop and TV and get to five — then you remember the doorbell, the plugs, the printer, the kids’ tablets, and the TV in the spare room that has not been updated in years. Short answer: The new Bitdefender and NETGEAR 2026 IoT Security Landscape Report, covering about 10.4 million homes and 5.4 billion security events from January to September 2026, puts the average home at 24 connected devices, up from 22 last year. Smart TVs led vulnerability observations (22.7%, 270.3 million), followed closely by smart plugs and network storage — together about two-thirds of all observations.

Why it matters: A weak gadget is not just a target in itself. The report says one device can also be used as a proxy for someone else’s traffic, a sensor that gathers information, or a foothold into the rest of your home network. Devices stay in homes long after makers stop sending updates.

How to find and secure them, step by step:1. List everything. Open your router app and list every connected device; name the ones you recognize and investigate any you do not.2.

Update the big three first — smart TV, smart plugs, and any home storage drive — plus the router itself.3. Fix passwords. Change any default or reused passwords on cameras, TVs and plugs, and turn on two-factor sign-in where offered.4.

Separate the gadgets. Put TVs, plugs, cameras and other gadgets on a guest or IoT Wi-Fi network if your router offers one, separate from laptops with banking on them.5. Retire the forgotten ones.

Unplug or replace any gadget that no longer receives security updates.Pro tip: Do this audit on the first Sunday of each month while coffee brews — ten minutes, same list, no guessing.Ad’s take: Most folks protect the front door and leave a window open in the living room TV. Your router list is the honest count of your house online — go look at yours today.