Apparently not, I have a Pixel 8 Pro that I got free on a promotion from AT&T. The bootloader is locked on it and grayed out.

Not in the US. A phone “purchased” on contract is carrier locked and you can’t unlock the bootloader, which needs to be done in order to install a different OS.

I believe NetGuard will act as a VPN. This will prevent you from using an actual VPN.

Since it is a free phone from a carrier it will be locked until the phone is “paid off” by keeping their service for a specified amount of time. Once that time has passed, then your best option is to have the carrier unlock it and install Graphene OS. Until then, there is not much you can do.

The bigger question I have is how are you going to view them? Did you build yourself and IMAX size screen?

I own an Airbnb and found the Eufy smart lock to be extremely useful. Lock codes can be set remotely in the app with a start and end date. You can also use a fingerprint. The key is a style that can’t be duplicated easily. It has an auto lock feature with a time delay setting. Camera and non-camera versions are available.

Calibre

https://calibre-ebook.com/

I have docker on the machine now and thought I’d try that type of install first. Sorry, I’m not familiar with the abbreviation “wsl2”

I had been running Nextcloud on an old laptop using Ubuntu, but that machine died. I have a Windows PC originally built for gaming that I am considering using for Nextcloud. Anyone have any experience with NC and Windows? Thought on the DB switch on Windows?

Yes, but it still doesn’t have wireguard, only openVPN.

I find that to be a frequent issue with Readarr.

Have you looked at Starlink or T-Mobile 5g home internet?