Renovating? The Network, Wi-Fi, CCTV and Smart Home Checklist Before First Fix
7 November 2026 · By Ethan Fernandes
The cheapest time to get great Wi-Fi, CCTV and smart home tech is before the walls are plastered. What to wire, where to put it, what to tell your electrician, and the mistakes that are expensive to fix later.
Quick answer
Before first fix, plan a comms cupboard where the broadband comes in and run Cat6 from it to every TV, desk, ceiling Wi-Fi access point, CCTV camera, the video doorbell and any garden office. Label both ends, photograph the runs before plastering, keep data away from mains, and add spare cable or conduit for the future.
If you're extending, converting a loft or doing a full renovation, there's a short window when adding network cables costs very little: after the walls and ceilings are opened up, and before they're plastered. Miss it, and adding a cable to the garden office or a camera on the back wall later means chasing walls, lifting floors or living with trailing cables and patchy Wi-Fi.
Most builders and electricians are brilliant at power and lighting, but networking often gets left until the end. Here's what to plan before first fix, the stage when cables go into the walls.
The short version: plan a central comms cupboard where the broadband comes in, and run Cat6 network cables from it to every TV, desk, ceiling Wi-Fi point, camera position and the garden office. Label both ends, photograph the routes before plastering, and add spare cables or conduit for the future. Agree it with your electrician before first fix.
1. Plan a Comms Cupboard
Choose one central, ventilated spot, such as an understairs or utility cupboard, where the broadband comes in and every cable runs back to. It needs a few power sockets and enough space for the router, a network switch, a patch panel and a CCTV recorder. Tell your broadband provider, or Openreach for full fibre, that this is where the line should come in.
2. Where to Run Network Cables
- Ceiling Wi-Fi access points: one per floor in an average house, more in larger homes, extensions and lofts. These give far better coverage than a router on a shelf.
- Behind every TV, ideally two cables, for streaming boxes and games consoles.
- Home office desks: a wired connection is still the most reliable for video calls.
- CCTV camera positions and the video doorbell: one cable each, powered over the cable (PoE), so they never need batteries or Wi-Fi.
- The garden office, gym or studio: outdoor-rated cable in a duct, laid while the garden is dug up. See garden office Wi-Fi.
- The loft, with spare cable left coiled, for future cameras or aerials.
- Alarm panel, smart heating hub and EV charger, if they'll need a connection.
3. Cable Type and Good Practice
- Cat6 is right for almost every home. Cat6a is worth it for long runs or if you want 10Gbps everywhere.
- Keep data cables away from mains cables where you can, and cross them at right angles rather than running side by side.
- Label both ends of every cable, and keep a simple plan of what goes where.
- Photograph every wall and ceiling before it's plastered, so nobody drills through a cable later.
- Add spare cables or empty conduit to key places. It costs almost nothing now.
4. Smart Home: Decide Now
- Smart light switches usually need a neutral wire and deeper back boxes. Tell the electrician now if you want them.
- Wired or wireless? Wired cameras and access points are more reliable. Battery gadgets are easier to add later but need charging.
- Speakers and TV positions: in-ceiling speakers and wall-mounted TVs need cables and backing boards before plastering.
- Smart heating controls and underfloor heating thermostats need positions agreed with the heating engineer.
5. Watch Out for Wi-Fi Blockers
Modern building materials are great for energy efficiency and terrible for Wi-Fi. Foil-backed insulation boards, steel beams, underfloor heating and energy-efficient glass in bifold doors all block signal. A new extension can end up with almost no Wi-Fi from a router in the front of the house, which is why a wired access point in the extension matters. See Wi-Fi not working in a new extension.
6. Order Broadband Early
New lines, full fibre installations and line moves can take weeks. Book them early, agree where the line enters the house, and plan a temporary connection, such as 4G or Starlink, if you'll be living there during the work.
Timeline
- Design stage: plan cable points with the layout.
- Before first fix: give the electrician a marked-up plan.
- First fix: cables run, labelled and photographed. Check them before plastering.
- Second fix: sockets and access points fitted.
- Handover: broadband live, network set up, every device connected and tested.
How We Handle It
We plan the network, Wi-Fi, CCTV and smart home with you before first fix, and give your builder or electrician a clear plan: every cable point, cable type, routes and labelling. We check the cable runs before plastering, then set everything up at handover: broadband, Wi-Fi access points, cameras, doorbell, smart home, TVs and printers, tested in every room. We work across West London with homeowners, builders, architects and interior designers. See our renovation and new build tech planning.
Related Reading
Common questions
Yes. It's the cheapest time to do it. Run Cat6 from a central comms cupboard to TVs, desks, ceiling Wi-Fi points, camera positions and any garden office, before the walls are plastered.
Cat6 is right for almost every home and handles today's broadband easily. Cat6a is worth considering for long runs or if you want 10Gbps throughout.
Usually on the ceiling, roughly one per floor in an average house, plus extra in large extensions, lofts and garden buildings. Each needs a network cable back to the comms cupboard.
At the design stage, and at the latest before first fix, when the electrician runs cables. Once walls are plastered, adding cables is disruptive and expensive.
Many need a neutral wire at the switch and deeper back boxes. Agree which switches will be smart with your electrician before first fix.
Still stuck? We can fix it for you
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