Why does Wi-Fi fail in the far rooms of a big flat or villa?
Because walls absorb the signal, and one router by the front door will not fix that. The answer is to run Cat6A cables from a network cabinet to ceiling access points in each zone, rather than boosting the signal with repeaters. The cable goes in before the finishes. Adding it later means chasing marble, parquet and plastered ceilings.
Old Barcelona buildings have brick load-bearing walls 15 to 30 cm thick, often with metal beams. Seafront villas are reinforced concrete, and the rebar acts as a Faraday cage. Solar-control glass with a metallic coating weakens the signal even more. And the house is not only phones: cameras, home automation, several TVs, consoles, workstations and 4K streaming all run at once.
Which cable should you run, Cat6 or Cat6A?
Cat6A. It holds 10 Gbit/s over the full 100 metres, while Cat6 only manages 10 Gbit/s on short runs of about 55 metres. The price difference across a whole house is small next to the cost of pulling cable again, and the cabling will serve for 20 to 30 years, during which provider and device speeds will keep rising.
The jacket depends on the route: in corrugated conduit and ceiling voids, a halogen-free (LSZH) F/UTP or U/FTP cable is the usual choice. «Cat7» with an RJ45 plug is not a residential standard, and it is not worth paying extra for the word on the jacket. Run two cables to every outlet and every access point, not one: the second serves a PoE camera, a control panel or a second access point. Alongside, leave empty Ø25 mm conduits with a pull cord for fibre, new standards and whatever comes next.
How many access points does a 200 m² home need?
Usually three or four, plus one for each outdoor area if there is a terrace, garden or pool. As a guide, one ceiling unit for every 50 to 70 m² of open space or every two or three rooms, and at least one per floor. The exact number is decided on the plan, looking at wall materials, glazing and where the bedrooms are.
Access points go on the ceiling in the middle of a corridor or living room, not behind a cupboard or in a niche with a door. From the ceiling a unit «sees» the surrounding rooms without crossing two walls. Each one connects by cable, not by Wi-Fi: a cable-free mesh shares the channel and loses about half the speed on each hop. Wi-Fi 6E and 7 use higher frequencies that pass through walls less well, so they need as many access points for good coverage, sometimes more.
Where should the router and the network cabinet go?
The network cabinet goes in the middle of the home, in a service room or built-in cupboard, near the electrical board and away from bedrooms. The operator's router normally arrives at the entrance, where the ICT network termination box sits in the wall. A cable runs from there to the cabinet and the router moves into the rack. In a villa, the cabinet sits at a level that lets cable reach every floor, with a separate line to an annexe or guest house.
Mount the cabinet ventilated, with sockets on its own circuit and a UPS. It holds a 24 to 48 port patch panel, a PoE switch, the router and storage. Label every outlet at both ends. A sealed cabinet with no airflow overheats and starts failing after a year. Do not put it in a cleaning-products cupboard or under a water pipe: a leak above the rack costs more than the rack.
Do you still need a cable to the TV if there is Wi-Fi?
Yes. TV, set-top box, console, media server and smart speaker are steadier and faster on cable, and Wi-Fi stays free for phones and tablets. A cable to the TV in the living room and bedroom always goes in, often with spares: to the TV, below it and beside the sofa.
Separate lines go to ceiling access points, entrance cameras and smart-home panels, Lutron or KNX controllers. If three or four people work from home, home offices get two or three outlets: computer, printer and docking station. In children's rooms one outlet per room is enough. For outdoor cameras along the facade, pull the cable in conduit from the start, with spare length. «Wi-Fi later» for CCTV does not work when the camera hangs three metres up and needs power over the network.
How do you separate the smart-home network from guests?
Set up three networks: home, smart devices and guests. All three run on the same equipment but cannot see each other. Cameras, sensors and controllers are isolated from laptops and phones, and guests get no access to the storage holding family photos and documents.
This takes a managed switch and a router with VLAN support. Cheap consumer equipment usually cannot do it. A backup link, such as a mobile router or a second fibre line, is inexpensive and keeps a villa's cameras and automation running when the provider goes down. If the owner lives abroad, remote access is set up through a VPN or the manufacturer's secure cloud service, without opening ports to the outside.
What needs to go in before the walls are closed?
The list is short: a plan of outlets by room, cable routes in conduit, a place for the cabinet, power to the ceiling access points and spare empty conduits. All of it is drawn on the plan together with the electrics, while lines can still move without consequences for the finishes.
BCN YARD plans the data network alongside the electrics and the smart-home system: one plan, one person responsible for the project, and a check with photos and line tests before the walls close. We run the project in Russian and Spanish. If you are planning to renovate a flat or a house, send us the floor plan and we will answer within an hour.
Frequently asked questions
How many access points does a 200 m² home need?
Usually three or four ceiling units, plus outdoor ones for a terrace, garden or pool. As a guide, one per 50 to 70 m² of open space or per two or three rooms, and at least one per floor. The exact number depends on the plan, wall materials and glazing. Each unit connects by cable, not over Wi-Fi.
Which cable should you run, Cat6 or Cat6A?
Cat6A. It holds 10 Gbit/s over 100 metres, while Cat6 does so only on runs of about 55 metres. The cabling lasts 20 to 30 years, and the price gap across a whole house is small next to pulling cable again. Run two cables to every point and leave spare empty conduits.
Where should the router and network cabinet go?
The cabinet goes in the middle of the home, in a service room or built-in cupboard, near the electrical board and away from bedrooms, ventilated and on a UPS. The operator's router usually arrives at the entrance, a cable runs from there to the cabinet and the router moves into the rack. In a villa, add a separate line to the annexe.
Do you still need a cable to the TV if there is Wi-Fi?
Yes. TV, set-top box, console and media server run steadier on cable, and Wi-Fi stays free for phones and tablets. A cable to the TV in the living room and bedroom always goes in, with spares: to the TV, below it and beside the sofa. Cameras and smart-home panels get their own lines.