For a 5 to 20 person Seattle office, run two Cat6 drops to every desk, put a small rack in a closet or back room near the middle of the space, and cover the open area with access points mounted on the ceiling, each on its own cable. Two drops because the second cable adds little labor when both pull together. What you don't need: a switch at every desk, a floor-standing rack, or four drops everywhere "just in case." That is most of the plan. The rest is questions to settle before anyone opens a ceiling tile.
Two drops per desk, not one
Two cables at every desk. One office that cut from two drops per desk to one to save money ended up with small switches scattered around for printers and gear nobody planned for.
The other reason is the desk phone. With one drop, the computer plugs into the back of the phone. When the phone reboots or dies, the computer goes offline too. Two cables keep them apart.
Cat6 for every data run. Cat6a only earns its cost on a single run longer than about 150 feet. If you are adding cameras, Cat5e is enough for them.
Put a third or fourth drop only where you know something lives: the printer, a conference room display, the reception desk.
Before we come out, walk the space with a floor plan and mark it up. Which desks are staying where they are? Where does the printer go? Where does the conference room display hang? Are the desk phones staying? You can change a desk location up till the day of the wiring, just update us on it.
Where the rack goes
Pick a closet or back room with power, close to the middle of the office rather than at one end. Every desk cable and every access point cable ends at that rack. Put it at one end and the far desks get the longest runs. In the middle, the runs split both ways and stay short.
Also check where the internet comes into the space. If the provider hasn't installed yet, ask them to put their box in that same room, and to explain how to use your own router behind it.
A small wall-mount rack holds a patch panel, a switch and the router, and that is enough for an office this size. The honest trade-off: you don't always need one. If the office is small and the gear is simple, we can skip the patch panel, with just cables coming out of a brushed wall plate straight to the switch. That is simpler and cheaper. The rack costs more, but it keeps everything in one place and off the floor.
If your access points and any desk phones run on PoE, the switch powers them over the network cable. If only a couple of access points need power, you don't need a big PoE switch. If you already have a router you like, we can put the access points behind your existing gateway instead of replacing the whole networking stack.
If you're in an older brick building, the path changes. We fish cable through existing wall cavities where we can. When a wall has to be opened, we try to cut single or double gang holes and cover them with blank wall plates. We don't fix the walls after ourselves, so plan for that. The drops you end up with are tested and certified.
Wi-Fi for the open area
Wired access points on the ceiling, each with its own cable back to the rack. Not a mesh kit, and not an access point sitting on top of a cabinet. Mesh kits are built for houses. A full office outgrows them fast.
What not to buy: a Wi-Fi extender for the weak corner. It turns one wireless hop into two, which usually makes calls worse.
We place the access points and check coverage room by room before we leave.
What to ask on the walkthrough
Bring these to the walkthrough:
- Can the work move around your staff? Ask which areas can be done while people work, and when the switchover to the new network happens.
- What does your lease say? Some leases require all cabling removed at move-out, or the landlord charges for removal.
If you also want someone watching the network after it's built, that's IT support. We serve offices across the Puget Sound area.
Have questions about your project? Contact us for a free estimate.