3G Approved
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Welcome to
3G Approved

The tools we use internally, tested in real work.

We spend most of our time helping financial services firms improve how they use technology, data, and systems to run their businesses.

This is the technology we use ourselves, have implemented for clients, or have enough direct experience with to recommend.

What does 3G Approved mean?

A product earns a place here because we use it in our own business, have implemented or supported it for clients, or have enough firsthand experience with it to have a defensible opinion.

Technology agnostic

We don't have a stack we sell. The right answer depends on your firm, your people, and what you already own. What works for us is a starting point, not a prescription for your business, and nothing here can be bought, sponsored, or upgraded to a better position.

Hardware

The 3G desk.

I spent twenty years in sales, traveling, meeting with clients, and working wherever I happened to be. My desk setup evolved the same way most of my technology does, by testing a lot of options and keeping only what actually makes working easier.

For me, that starts with eliminating distractions. Nearly everything on this list is quiet. No loud mechanical keyboards, no clicking mice, and nothing that adds unnecessary noise to the room. It matters to me, and if you share an office, it matters to everyone around you too.

I also test far more than I keep. Across the products below, I have tried well over a hundred variations. I research them, buy them, use them in real work, and return the ones that do not hold up.

What is left is the equipment I actually use and would recommend.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Some links below are affiliate links, at no additional cost to you. Full disclosure

Displays and Mounts
Samsung 49-inch ultrawide with the PowerToys FancyZones layout editor open
The 49-inch with FancyZones open. The zone dividers are what make an ultrawide usable instead of just wide.
  • Samsung 49-inch ultrawide
    I love the extra-wide, long screen. The thing you have to get used to is snapping windows together inside it. There is a tool built into Windows, but the one I use is PowerToys FancyZones, which lets you draw your own layouts and build them any way you want.
    View on Amazon
  • Dual monitor mount
    Mounts matter more than people expect, depending on where you want screens and how you want them held. The stand in the box is sturdy and fine for a desk. If you want to mount or stack, this is the way to go.
    View on Amazon
Keyboard and Mouse
  • Main keyboard, wired, black or white
    Wired on purpose. Very silent, no mechanical clicks, none of that feedback you get on other keyboards.
    View on Amazon
  • Mouse, graphite
    Silent click, and every button you could possibly imagine, including volume control on the mouse itself. Graphite is the colour that is available; white is currently out of stock.
    View on Amazon
  • Travel keyboard
    For shorter trips. Folds up neatly into one piece. I like having a keyboard under my wrists rather than the laptop's, so this keeps that and still leaves room to bring a mouse.
    View on Amazon
  • Travel mouse
    Great for the little tables on an airplane where there is no room to work. Connects several different ways.
    View on Amazon
Camera, Audio and Calls
  • NexiGo 4K webcam
    Probably the best 4K webcam I have come across. Paired with the stand you can place it anywhere at eye level. It is a little thick, so you do end up looking around it to see what is behind it.
    View on Amazon
  • Webcam stand
    The helper that makes eye contact work. Gets the camera where it needs to be rather than where the monitor happens to put it.
    View on Amazon
  • Eye-contact drop-down webcam
    How I solve that on days with a lot of calls. I wish it were better. It claims 4K and I do not entirely believe it, but it is good enough, and I get direct eye contact while still seeing the screen I am working on.
    View on Amazon
  • Earhug microphone
    A solid microphone with a magnet on the bottom, so it sticks to anything metal and stays where you put it. It has an AI feature that cleans up audio and background noise.
    View on Amazon
  • Desk speaker
    For the times headphones are not on.
    View on Amazon
  • Travel headphones, low cost
    They connect to everything I have needed, they have outlasted a much more expensive pair of Bose, the sound quality is good, and they do have some noise cancellation.
    View on Amazon
The Travel Kit
Two portable travel screens clipped to a laptop, all three displays running
The travel screens in use. This is what goes on the road when a client's conference room only has one screen. Everything in this kit earns its place by weight.
  • Travel screens
    Great for training or presentations where not everyone can see the main screen. They clip onto the laptop and give you real estate you would otherwise be without.
    View on Amazon
  • Travel camera
    Clips anywhere, moves around as easily as you want, and the 4K picture is genuinely good.
    View on Amazon
The Frankenstein and Desk
The assembled office chair at the desk, with three monitors and the portable air conditioner
The chair, in place. Newtral seat and footrest, an Oline ErgoPro back, a Herman Miller headrest, and wheels that work on carpet.
  • Vernal Executive L-shaped standing desk
    The L-shape is the point. It holds the ultrawide and still leaves a real surface to work on paper.
    View at Vernal
  • Newtral chair, seat and footrest
    I am very picky about where I sit, because I work fourteen to sixteen hour days most days. I liked this one for the leg rest, which I use constantly. What I did not like was the back. The lumbar support is good, but move even slightly and you get a click as it goes in and out. Not for me.
    View on Amazon
  • Oline ErgoPro back and lumbar
    So I took the back and lumbar off this one and put it on the Newtral. That solved the click.
    View on Amazon
  • Herman Miller H3 headrest
    Neither chair's headrest fitted properly, and both only moved up and down with very little leeway. This one moves up, down, forward and back across a wide range, so it is comfortable however I end up sitting. H3 if you are 5'11" and under, H4 if you are over.
    View on Amazon
  • Chair wheels
    My office is carpeted. These roll properly on it and make the whole thing easier to move around.
    View on Amazon
  • Memory foam armrest pads
    The smallest change on this list, and the one that finished the chair. At fourteen hours a day your forearms are resting on something the entire time, and it turns out that matters.
    View on Amazon
Desk, Power and Climate
Whynter 14,000 BTU portable air conditioner in the corner of a home office
The Whynter. Cooling one room instead of the whole house is the entire argument.
  • Whynter 14,000 BTU portable air conditioner
    My favourite purchase of 2026. My HOA does not allow anything outside the window, which I could do back in Boston. Rather than air-condition the whole house through August in Charlotte, if I am going to be in my office then I am going to be in my office. It cools the room I am in without freezing everyone else out. It connects to Alexa, so my morning commands switch it on and bring it to temperature before I get there. It also works by remote, and on low it is quiet enough that it is almost never audible on a call.
    View on Amazon
  • Cable management, black or white
    Multiple monitors, more than one machine, and a desk that moves. Without this it is a mess inside a week.
    View on Amazon
  • Three-in-one fast charger
    Phone, watch and earbuds on one pad, so the desk keeps one cable instead of three.
    View on Amazon
  • Small heater
    The other half of the same problem, for the other half of the year.
    View on Amazon
Computers
  • Primary workstation, home office
    Built rather than bought, by Micro Center in Charlotte, because nothing off the shelf handles large data work and local AI at the same time. AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7970X 32-core, ASUS Pro WS TRX50-SAGE WIFI, 128GB DDR5, NVIDIA RTX 5080 16GB, Samsung 990 PRO 2TB NVMe, Noctua air cooling, 1200W platinum supply, be quiet! full tower.
  • Second workstation, office
    The same Threadripper platform with an RTX 5070. Two machines built alike means moving between home and the office changes nothing about how I work.
  • Alienware m16 R2, travel laptop
    Dark Metallic Moon. Intel Core Ultra 9 185H, NVIDIA RTX 4070 8GB, 64GB DDR5-5600, 2TB NVMe, 16-inch QHD+ 2560×1600 at 240Hz, Wi-Fi 7. Not bought for gaming. It was the configuration that would take 64GB and a real GPU in something I could carry.
    View on Amazon
  • Employee laptops
    What I buy for the team. Enough machine to do real work, without specifying a workstation for someone who does not need one.
    View on Amazon
The Rest of the Office
Tonal wall-mounted strength trainer in a home office with the arms folded in
Wall-mounted, arms folded in. It takes up a wall instead of a room, which is the whole point.
  • Tonal
    One of the best things I've added to my office. A full strength workout without leaving the room, and with up to 125 lbs per arm it's more than enough for me. With my sense of urgency, the fact that I can still keep an eye on email between reps is probably both a feature and a problem. It takes $500 off your best available offer.
    Get $500 off

I don't recommend buying equipment simply because I use it. These products are here because they survived actual daily use in my setup, and because a lot of things that did not survive went back.

Software

The core tools behind 3G.

These aren't products we tested for a review. We use each of them to run the business.

Some links below may be affiliate links. 3G may receive compensation if you purchase through one, at no additional cost to you. It does not affect what appears here. Full disclosure

Salesforce

CRM

CRM work is at the center of what 3G does, and I run my own firm on Salesforce as well. I use it for relationship management, business development, client information, activity history, reporting, and the operating data that should live beyond someone's inbox.

Why we use it. When designed correctly, Salesforce can become the operational foundation of a business instead of just another database.
Visit Salesforce

Claude

AI, development, analysis, and automation

Claude has become a major part of how I work. I use it for analysis, development, documentation, data transformation, automation, research, and building tools that would previously have required significantly more manual work.

Why we use it. It allows a small consulting company to execute technical and analytical work at a scale that would otherwise require considerably more resources.
Visit Claude

Microsoft 365

Email, calendar, productivity, and identity

Outlook, calendar, Office applications, user management, authentication, and a significant part of the infrastructure behind 3G all live within Microsoft 365.

Why we use it. It provides the business infrastructure everything else can connect to without adding unnecessary systems.
Visit Microsoft 365

ClickUp

Project and work management

ClickUp is the system of record for client engagements, projects, tasks, deadlines, and internal work. It gives me one place to manage what needs to happen, who's responsible, what's complete, and what's getting stuck. The link below takes 10% off for you. It pays 3G nothing.

Why we use it. Flexible enough to handle complex consulting engagements without forcing every project into the same structure.
Get 10% off

Box

Document management

Box is the primary client document platform within 3G. I use it for secure document storage, external sharing, collaboration, and keeping client information separated from the rest of the technology stack.

Why we use it. It combines a relatively simple client experience with the administrative, permission, and sharing controls we want when working with financial services firms.
Visit Box

Stripe

Payments and billing

Stripe handles payment processing for 3G.

Why we use it. It does one important job well without adding unnecessary friction for either side of the transaction.
Visit Stripe

Krisp

Meeting intelligence

Krisp helps capture meetings, transcripts, summaries, and the information generated during client conversations. That information can then be incorporated into the systems where it actually belongs rather than disappearing into meeting notes.

Why we use it. Meetings generate valuable operational data. Capturing it is useful. Getting it into the CRM and workflow is what makes it valuable.
Visit Krisp

Obsidian

Knowledge management

Obsidian is where I maintain long-term notes, documentation, research, and institutional knowledge. The underlying files are plain text rather than being trapped inside a proprietary database.

Why we use it. We want important knowledge to remain searchable, portable, and usable years from now regardless of what software we are using at the time.
Visit Obsidian

Zoom

Client meetings

Zoom remains one of the primary platforms I use for client meetings, working sessions, screen sharing, and recorded discussions.

Why we use it. It is familiar to clients, reliable, and generally gets out of the way of the meeting.
Visit Zoom

Superwhisper

Voice dictation

I use Superwhisper extensively for dictation instead of typing. Emails, notes, documentation, prompts, and longer explanations are often faster to create by speaking them.

Why we use it. Most of us can explain something considerably faster than we can type it.
Visit Superwhisper

NordPass

Password and credential management

NordPass is where I manage business credentials and, when appropriate, securely share access with members of the team or clients.

Why we use it. Passwords should not live in emails, spreadsheets, Teams messages, or someone's memory.
Visit NordPass
The only discount on this page

Zocks

An AI assistant built for financial advisors. It handles meeting capture, notes, follow-up drafting, and form population. What we like is where it puts the result: it connects directly to Salesforce, SmartOffice and the rest of the wealth stack, so what was said in a meeting lands in the system of record instead of sitting in a document nobody opens again.

3G has arranged 10% off for anyone who uses the code below. 3G receives nothing for this. No referral fee, no revenue share, no commission. The discount exists because it is useful to the people who read this page, and that is the entire reason it is here.

There is also a booking link straight to the Zocks team for a walkthrough or help setting up a trial. No charge, and no obligation to buy anything.

Visit Zocks Book a demo
Discount code
3GPC10
10% off
Website

Getting something online without turning it into a project.

Most firms don't need a website rebuild. They need a domain that resolves, a page that loads, and to stop thinking about it. This is what I use for that.

Some links below may be affiliate links. 3G may receive compensation if you purchase through one, at no additional cost to you. It does not affect what appears here. Full disclosure

Hostinger

Domains, DNS, and hosting

Registration, DNS, and hosting can all sit in one account here, which matters more than it sounds the first time you have to point a domain name at a page. This domain is registered here.

Why we use it. Cheap enough not to think about, and it does not make you leave to manage DNS somewhere else.
Visit Hostinger

Namecheap

Domain registration

A long-established registrar, and where our main domain is registered. We keep the registrar deliberately separate from the host.

Why we use it. System diversity. The company serving the site should not also be the company holding the name, so changing hosts, or losing one, never puts the domain itself at risk.
Visit Namecheap
How I Think About Technology

The best technology stack is not the one with the most software.

It is the one where each system has a clear purpose, information has an obvious home, integrations reduce duplicate work, and the people using the technology understand how it supports the business.

I regularly see firms add technology to solve a process problem and end up creating another process problem.

Before adding another system, I generally want to answer four questions:

01

What problem are we actually trying to solve?

02

Can something already in the technology stack solve it?

03

Where will the information created by this system ultimately live?

04

Will the team realistically use it after implementation?

If those answers aren't clear, another subscription usually isn't the solution.

About 3G

I'm Greg Pelletier, founder of 3G Practice Consulting.

3G helps financial services firms strengthen the operational foundation of their businesses, including CRM, data, workflow, technology, reporting, and strategy implementation.

I work with wealth management firms, RIAs, insurance BGAs, independent producers, member firms, and other financial services organizations that need their operations and technology to keep pace with the business.

I built 3G Approved because clients and colleagues regularly ask what technology I use and recommend. Rather than answering the same questions one at a time, I created one place to share the software, technology, and hardware I actually use and trust.

3G Approved isn't a marketplace, and companies can't pay to be included. Recommendations are based on my experience with the product and whether I believe it can solve a real business need.

Some links may be affiliate links, which means 3G may receive compensation if you choose to purchase through them. That doesn't determine what gets recommended. If we work together, I'll always recommend what I believe best fits your business.

Learn More About 3G Schedule a Call
The 3G Methodology
Gather → Generate → Ground

We understand the current environment, develop the right solution, and then ground that solution into the business so it actually gets used.

Free, no signup

3G Hz

I got tired of subscription apps for focus and sleep audio, and of not being able to adjust the science underneath them. Tone layers, tone levels, pulse rates, carrier frequency. So I built my own.

There are presets if you just want to press play, and the controls are there if you want to change what is happening underneath. I use it most when I am working on the road.

Free · No account · Nothing to install

Open 3G Hz
Free Alexa skill

3G AIOS

I kept losing things between random to-do lists and my task management system. So I built an Alexa skill that captures spoken notes and to-dos and saves them, word for word, into a ClickUp list.

It does not guess dates, rename anything, or decide which project a note belongs to. It records exactly what you said, with a timestamp, and leaves the interpretation to you. It never reads your notes back out loud either, so nothing is spoken in a room with other people in it.

Free · Link your own ClickUp · Alexa+ and classic Alexa

Get 3G AIOS