Planning electrical systems to be future-proof

If you don’t arrange anything specific with the electrician, he will usually just nail a patch panel to the wall and you’ll have to figure out what to do with it. It’s best to clarify everything with the electrician early on and also check whether it is implemented that way. Then you can also discuss where the performance limit is. (Wer den Netzwerkschrank bringt. Steckdosen in Netzwerkschrank anklemmen, Netzwerkschrank erden!)

It’s best if you discuss this with the electrician.

It’s best to clarify everything with the electrician early on and also check whether it is implemented accordingly. Then you can also discuss the performance limit. (Who brings the network cabinet. Connect sockets in the network cabinet, ground the network cabinet!)

Thanks for the feedback. I was basically unsure whether I should hope for a capable electrician for the integration, whether someone completely different does it, or if it is standard with the electrician.

Do you already know how many connections you want to have installed in all the rooms?

To be honest, I did not expect to get so much help from you on my completely layman and poorly prepared question. Therefore, I refrained from digitizing and showing my handwritten sketches/preparations here. But I will gladly do that this evening. :)

Here is our distribution. In general, we have initially (?) only planned one connection and no double sockets. You would probably position a second LAN connection in the flexible rooms (office, utility room, children's room 1 and 2) at a different location, right?
Before I ask a few more detailed questions: What would you change? Where is something missing or where can we save a socket? For each room we also plan an additional satellite connection. We watch 50% linear TV and 50% streaming.

Untergeschoss
- Access point in the office (large symbol)
- 1x doorbell, 1x garage/wallbox, 1x office (possibly children’s room later?)



Erdgeschoss
- Access point in utility room and common room (as suggested by you), 3rd access point outside, next to the LAN socket for the awning/shading
- 1x utility room, 2x exposed concrete wall for TV, 1x outside for awning/shading



Obergeschoss
- 1x access point in hallway
- 1x child 1, 1x child 2, 1x bedroom

having to hope for a capable electrician

When unmotivated electricians meet unmotivated builders, this is what you get. He was capable, just unmotivated when it came to the network. The fact that everything is dangling around like that now really annoys me, especially since I look at the keystones almost every day, with which I want to fix it.

Therefore: force electricians to pack the CAT cables into keystones with enough leftover cable at a suitable free spot (!) and then take matters into your own hands with a 19" rack and make it look nice.

I would always have a double socket installed, as it is usually only marginally more expensive. If the electrician wants too much for some reason, then he should use duplex cables and you can upgrade later if needed.

I would plan network sockets for the following areas:
- Printer
- Desks
- Television
- possibly for oven/microwave/washing machine or other kitchen appliances
- Ventilation system
- Garage
- Distribution box
- Terrace (Access Point)
- Ceiling Access Point
- possibly for cameras
- as a precaution, at least 1 duplex in the attic.

As a rule, I would generally always have double sockets installed. There are already prefabricated Cat7 duplex cables that should also make it easier for the electrician to lay them. I would possibly plan it like this:

UG
Double socket in the garage. Could be interesting for future wall boxes if needed.
Double socket in the office (at the edge where the desk will presumably stand)
Single socket in the hallway for a door indoor station
Cable outlet at the house entrance for a door outdoor station
I am assuming that you will accommodate the cables and the server cabinet in the technical room. Then, in my opinion, you don’t need an extra connection there since the switch is right nearby in the same room.
That makes a total of five LAN connections plus an outlet for the door outdoor station and one access point = 7 installation cables



EG
Double socket in the utility room
Double socket at the TV spot
Single socket in the hallway for a door indoor station
That makes a total of five LAN connections plus two APs = 7 installation cables
Notes: Outside, I wouldn’t necessarily have a network socket installed next to the access point. That might only be interesting for a camera, if you’re interested in something like that. Otherwise, consider again if there might be an alternative TV spot.



OG
Double socket in Child 1
Double socket in Child 2
Double socket in the bedroom
Single socket in the hallway for a door indoor station
That makes a total of seven LAN connections plus one access point = 8 installation cables
Note: If you’re not sure about the furnishing in the children’s rooms, one could additionally have a double socket installed on the opposite walls or one single socket each.



That would bring you to a total of 22 installation cables. They fit nicely on a 24-port switch. Please note the following: besides the pure LAN connections, some components still need to be connected directly to the switch. For me, for example, the FritzBox, a NAS, and a Doorbird I/O controller are connected directly to the switch. After all, a FritzBox still offers a few connections.

I would then buy the components for the network cabinet myself and ask the electrician to properly terminate the installation cables at the patch panel in the network cabinet. It is also important that you have keystones installed there, which terminate the installation cables at the patch panel. These can be removed later or rearranged in order if necessary.

For example, mine looks like this:

Here you can see how the yellow installation cables arrive from the left and are then introduced in bundles into the network cabinet from the back at the top.


Here you can see the network cabinet I generously chose to also have space for the NAS and the FritzBox.


Here again in close-up the assignment of the patch panel. We were lucky that our electrician worked very neatly here and labeled the fields nicely. From the patch panel, several patch cables then run via an upper and lower brush strip to the switch. But of course, that’s just cosmetic.