Working with builders, I meet with new homebuyers every week, many first timers and many experienced veterans who have built several custom or semi-custom homes throughout the years. As we sit down in person or over Zoom to begin their low voltage design, one of the most common (and viable) questions I get asked has to do with the need for pre-wiring their new home. To nutshell, the question is, “Why bother prewiring. Can’t we just use Wi-Fi for everything these days?”
So…what does it mean to “prewire” a new home and why do we do it?
Prewiring means installing wires and cables before the drywall stage of construction. Your entertainment, security, control, and privacy devices including TVs, speakers, security cameras, video doorbell, Wi-Fi access points (WAPs), pool controller, shades/blinds, home automation controller and more can all be “hardwired” into the network (for both power and Internet connectivity) as a result. Prewiring also helps prevent post-closing damage to the drywall and/or ceiling as the necessary wires, cables, and preconstruction brackets (in some cases) are already installed.
Yes, it is true that most devices today can communicate with your ISP router wirelessly over Wi-Fi and get out to the internet, however there is a very compelling case for hardwiring in a new home, especially considering how much bandwidth today’s streaming audio and video applications can consume. For example, wireless smart speakers, video game consoles, security cameras, smart TVs, and various other devices put a great amount of preventable pressure on the Wi-Fi network. Live-streaming HDR video from security cameras that aren’t prewired, streaming Hi-Res music and 4K movies (shows, news, sports) wirelessly through the TV can create a traffic jam on the home’s often less than optimal Wi-Fi system. All the smart devices, including speakers, video doorbells, light switches and other IOT devices can cause the Wi-Fi network to become congested when everyone is using it. In a new home, any static devices that you do not pick up and move around with you (such as your TV, home theatre receiver, video game console. and security camera system) would be MUCH better off being hardwired. Use the Wi-Fi network for your mobile devices such as smart phones, tablets, laptop computers and of course your robot vacuum.
This is why most GCs, custom and semi-custom home builders today contract us to wire up a commercial-grade 10GB Cat6 Ethernet Network in the home AS A STANDARD — for the internet connection. This is a hardwired way to get out to the internet. Hardwiring a TV, security camera system, video doorbell, music system, home theatre projector, Xbox, or other devices can also relieve Wi-Fi network pressure by taking video and audio off it. Hardwired speakers that are often of superior quality are much less obtrusive as they won’t be sitting on countertops with cables but are instead flush-mounted or recessed into the structure or even hidden to become “invisible” speakers.
Even your Wi-Fi network is better off hardwired using Wireless Access Points (WAPs). WAPs are installed in strategic ceiling locations throughout and can provide reliable Wi-Fi access to every corner of the home. The building materials in a home, as well as the layout, can block the signal of the Wi-Fi network from spreading throughout the house, especially in Florida outside into the covered patio, backyard, and/or driveway. Indoor and outdoor-rated WAPs that are hardwired back to your router via Cat6 cable, and surface mounted to the ceiling “hotel style” can provide a larger radius of coverage and are a viable, cost-effective solution to the coverage (which is more important than speed) problem.
Okay…but can’t we just add some wires if we need them after we close?
In many cases, yes, but why not just prewire and be done with it? Once everything is prewired into the house, you are all set. I know, in some cases it’s just the wires being offered, and yes, you would still need to source and install much of the equipment connecting to those wires post-closing. But let’s look behind Door #2. Let’s say you did not pre-wire or did not put enough wiring into the home to take care of all your current AND FUTURE needs. If, for example, you did not prewire for hardwired PoE security cameras and/or streaming TV and music, it would mean that your security cameras would have to be on Wi-Fi, the speakers too, and all your TVs, video game consoles and other smart home devices would have to be Wi-Fi connected. Or, you just may have to do without some of them. And let’s say you did not prewire for aesthetically pleasing ceiling-mounted Wireless Access Points (WAPs) everywhere you need Wi-Fi coverage for your mobile devices both inside and outside the physical four walls? This would mean that you’d need plug-in, tabletop “DIY Mesh Network” devices scattered throughout the house, most of which are NOT outdoor rated. Of course, you can add more wiring after the home is completed, and of course that will be more expensive, messy and time consuming than if you let the builder or GC have us put in all the wiring before the drywall and ceiling go up. It is a lot more work to cut open the drywall, make holes in the ceiling, install brand new wiring, then patch and paint the damage afterward rather than just installing the wires during construction.
HW Automation is a fully licensed and insured low voltage specialty contractor serving semi-custom home builders, custom builders, GCs and owners from Miami to Port St. Lucie and over to Naples, FL. We appreciate the opportunity to learn about your specific project needs, then design a custom solution or Design Center program to both help you differentiate your project and delight your new homebuyers with high-value low voltage and smart home options that won’t slow down your construction schedule.
