How to Wire Your Home Network: A Practical Plan

Wi-Fi is for phones. Everything that sits still — TVs, consoles, desktops, cameras, access points — runs better wired, and wiring a house is a very achievable weekend project if you do the steps in order.

1. Plan the drops

Walk the house and mark every place a device sits: two drops behind each TV (console + streamer), two per desk, one per camera position, one in the ceiling per floor for a PoE access point — wired APs are what actually fixes Wi-Fi. Pick a central spot for the equipment: a closet or utility room where every run can home to one panel.

2. Choose the cable once

Pulling cable is the expensive part; copper is the cheap part — so buy the category you'll want in ten years. Cat6 vs Cat6A settles the choice; buy it as a 1000 ft solid-copper pull box (here's why solid conductor), and check jacket fire ratings before anything enters a wall, riser or ceiling. Rodent-prone crawlspace or attic on the route? That's what armored cable is for.

3. Pull, terminate, test

Pull with 10–15% slack and no sharp kinks. Terminate solid bulk cable on keystone jacks and a patch panel — not crimped plugs; punch-downs on solid copper are faster and far more reliable for a first-timer. Then test every run with a cheap continuity tester before closing walls. Keep each run under 90 m (the length rules).

4. Patch and power

Panel to switch with short multi-pack patch cords — color-code by purpose. A PoE switch powers your cameras and ceiling APs over the same runs (PoE requirements), which is the whole payoff of doing this properly: one clean panel, no wall-wart chargers in the attic.

Planning a specific house? Email us the floor plan sketch and device list — we'll spec the pull box, jacks and patch cords in one reply.