We believe you deserve to know exactly how a recommendation was made before you trust it. Here is our process, in full.

What we are and what we’re not

Connected Living Guide publishes research-based reviews and guides. We do not run a testing lab, and we will never pretend we do. When you see a score or a recommendation on this site, it was built from documented evidence, not from claims of hands-on use we can’t substantiate.

Our sources, in order of weight

1. Official documentation: the product’s own pricing pages, feature lists, terms of service, and insurance policy documents, checked on the date shown on each article.
2. Independent and regulatory data: security audits, FTC actions and guidance, FBI IC3 reports, breach databases, and court records where relevant.
3. Aggregated verified customer reviews: patterns across app stores, Trustpilot, and BBB records. We look for repeated themes (billing problems, support quality, false alerts), not cherry-picked quotes.
4. Reputable independent testing: where credible third parties have published hands-on results, we cite them by name rather than repeating their findings as our own.

Our rules

• Every factual claim about a product links to a source or carries an “as of [date]” stamp.
• Every recommended product gets at least one honest drawback in print.
• Every comparison names at least one situation where the “loser” is the better choice.
• Pricing changes fast; each money page shows a last-verified date, and we re-verify on a scheduled cycle.
• If we get something wrong, we correct it and note the correction. Tell us here.

How affiliate relationships interact with all this

They don’t. The research is completed before monetization is considered, and our affiliate disclosure explains the business model in plain language. The shortest version: we may earn a commission on some links; our rankings are not for sale.